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美国国家公共电台 NPR--New district maps could help Democrats in the upcoming election

时间：2023-09-13 15:58:06

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New district maps could help Democrats2 in the upcoming election

Transcript3

In a few key battleground states, new district voting maps may help Democrats pick up some state legislative4 seats in this midterm election.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The Republican Party controls almost two-thirds of state legislatures in this country. That is due in part to a successful GOP strategy of redistricting launched years ago. But in this midterm election, some new maps in some battleground states may change the odds5 of who's in power. Here's NPR's Laura Benshoff.

LAURA BENSHOFF, BYLINE6: Johanny Cepeda-Freytiz has a lot on her plate. She owns a restaurant, serves on her local city council...

JOHANNY CEPEDA-FREYTIZ: And I'm running to become the next state representative of the 129th District.

BENSHOFF: The 129th Pennsylvania House District is about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia. It includes part of Reading, a small city that is majority Democrat1 and Latino. But it also covers some of the surrounding county, which is whiter and more Republican. Cepeda-Freytiz grew up between the U.S. and the Dominican Republic. She says she went into politics to help her community.

CEPEDA-FREYTIZ: Being in a city that's predominately Latino, where a lot of people speak more Spanish than English, for years we weren't really represented or served.

BENSHOFF: When Pennsylvania adopted a new legislative map, it redrew the lines around the 129th. That's one major reason Cepeda-Freytiz decided7 to run.

CEPEDA-FREYTIZ: It did a complete shift, allowing the area to be 52% Democrats.

BENSHOFF: Every 10 years, states redraw district lines based on the new census8 numbers. Sam Wang, director of the Gerrymandering Project at Princeton University, says in most states, the party in power runs the redistricting process.

SAM WANG: It's this endless feedback where the state legislature plays a hand in drawing its own lines, runs for office in those lines and then can stay in office.

BENSHOFF: Both parties do this, but there is a growing backlash against such partisan9 gerrymandering. In Pennsylvania, the most recent mapmaking commission was chaired by an outside expert. Democrats outnumber Republicans in the Commonwealth10, but the GOP has run the state legislature for a decade. The new map still favors Republicans but less heavily than before, according to Wang. He says other states decided to change their mapmaking practice entirely11.

WANG: Some states have stepped up and, through citizen initiative, reformed their process. And that's the case in places like Michigan and Virginia.

BENSHOFF: That makes Democrats hopeful. Jessica Post is president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee.

JESSICA POST: We'll see the first fair state Senate map in about 40 years in Michigan this election cycle. And so that gives us a shot to flip12 the Michigan State Senate.

BENSHOFF: But that's ambitious during a midterm year when Republicans would normally be expected to make gains.

ADAM KINCAID: There's a big difference between flipping13 chambers14 and flipping seats.

BENSHOFF: Adam Kincaid is with the National Republican Redistricting Trust. While Democrats are gunning to take control of chambers in Pennsylvania and Michigan, he's not overly worried.

KINCAID: Nationally, the climate is good for the GOP. You know, at the same time, the commissions in a few states didn't do Republicans any favors.

BENSHOFF: Kincaid says new maps could also cause Democrats to lose seats in their strongholds. For example, in the New York State Senate, a judge there threw out political maps as unfairly biased15 towards Democrats. Drawing district lines is so contentious16 because these maps create a kind of political destiny. For example, let's go back to that Pennsylvania race we heard about at the top. I never heard back from the Republican candidate. But Democrat Johanny Cepeda-Freytiz is feeling good about her odds because of the new map.

CEPEDA-FREYTIZ: This will be the first time, when I win, that it'll be a Democratic seat.

BENSHOFF: When I win. It's not if I win. It's when I win.

CEPEDA-FREYTIZ: I have to speak - it's when I win. I have to speak it into existence, right?

BENSHOFF: It helps that the district now leans in her favor.

Laura Benshoff, NPR News, Philadelphia.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 democrat Xmkzf     
n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员
参考例句：
  • The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
  • About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。
2 democrats 655beefefdcaf76097d489a3ff245f76     
n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
  • The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 transcript JgpzUp     
n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书
参考例句：
  • A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
  • They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。
4 legislative K9hzG     
n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的
参考例句：
  • Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
  • Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。
5 odds n5czT     
n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别
参考例句：
  • The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
  • Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？
6 byline sSXyQ     
n.署名；v.署名
参考例句：
  • His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
  • We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。
7 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的
参考例句：
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
8 census arnz5     
n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查
参考例句：
  • A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
  • The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。
9 partisan w4ZzY     
adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒
参考例句：
  • In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
  • The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。
10 commonwealth XXzyp     
n.共和国，联邦，共同体
参考例句：
  • He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
  • Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。
11 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地
参考例句：
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
12 flip Vjwx6     
vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的
参考例句：
  • I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
  • Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。
13 flipping b69cb8e0c44ab7550c47eaf7c01557e4     
讨厌之极的
参考例句：
  • I hate this flipping hotel! 我讨厌这个该死的旅馆！
  • Don't go flipping your lid. 别发火。
14 chambers c053984cd45eab1984d2c4776373c4fe     
n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅
参考例句：
  • The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网
15 biased vyGzSn     
a.有偏见的
参考例句：
  • a school biased towards music and art 一所偏重音乐和艺术的学校
  • The Methods: They employed were heavily biased in the gentry's favour. 他们采用的方法严重偏袒中上阶级。
16 contentious fa9yk     
adj.好辩的，善争吵的
参考例句：
  • She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
  • Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

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