to gerrymander
6
9.8
- verb
- /ˈdʒɛrɪˌmændər/
- If Republicans actually listen to Jindal, they might win somewhere other than their gerrymandered districts.
- gerrymandered districts
- gerrymandered boundaries
Examples
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That's because Republicans took control of 30 state legislatures, and then gerrymandered the hell out of Congressional seats.
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The problem is that the district lines have been gerrymandered like crazy to always favor the Democrats.
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... prior to which the Democrats at the state level gerrymandered the House map.
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The thing about White House and U.S. Senate races is that you can't gerrymander them.
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The losses in the House also threaten to be severe, limited only by gerrymandered districts.
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Members of the House are elected by gerrymandered districts (a practice of both major parties).
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After all, the blue-state seats are gerrymandered too, in favor of the Dems...
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Assuming that the state legislative districts aren't equally gerrymandered to keep one party in power.
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ProPublica again shows how the Democrats gerrymandered districts in California to obtain a supermajority and one-party rule.
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The lawmakers plan to gerrymander the voting districts to ensure their party remains in power.
How Unfair
Surface Forms
Morphology
gerrymander = Gerry + salamander (opaque) = gerry + mander
The word is a coined blend (Gerry + salamander) named after a politician and a cartoon shape; knowing the parts does not let learners infer the political meaning.
Etymology
Gerrymander comes from a US governor named Gerry and an 1812 cartoon that made one voting area look like a salamander. So, to gerrymander is to draw voting lines in a clever but unfair way 'to help one party'.