Pierce issues statement after committee adopts gerrymandered maps

INDIANAPOLIS – State Rep. Matt Pierce (D-Bloomington) issued the following statement in response to the House Elections and Apportionment Committee adopting the GOP's proposed House and congressional maps:

“Today's adoption of the Indiana House and congressional maps by the House Elections and Apportionment Committee is the first step toward giving Statehouse Republicans an unfair, partisan advantage in upcoming elections.  An advantage that will last through 2032.

“Independent, objective analysis shows while Republicans can currently expect to receive about 56% of votes across the state, their partisan maps will give them 69% of the House seats. These results thwart the will of the voters and give Republicans absolute power through an undeserved supermajority. 

“The congressional map adopted by the House Elections Committee results in the same unfair, partisan advantage.  With 56% of the votes, the Republican gerrymander engineers 77% of the congressional seats for Republicans.  Most glaring is it takes a 5th District congressional seat that was becoming ever-more competitive and converts it into a safe Republican seat.

“Why does this matter to the public?  What makes these partisan maps so damaging to democracy is they promote even greater division in our politics and make reaching compromise on important issues much more difficult.  Legislators and members of Congress are no longer concerned about independent swing voters in the general election.  Their path to victory is now in the primary alone, and that pushes elected officials to pander to only the most partisan voters.

“It's not too late for the Republicans to do the right thing and adopt maps that fairly represent all Hoosiers.”