How GOP gerrymandering in Texas could spiral into partisan warfare and shows why we need independent redistricting commissions

One of the goals of the Forward Party is to end partisan, majority party redistricting (which leads to gerrymandering) in favor of independent redistricting. It just makes sense.

Both the Republican and Democrat parties are actually minority parties in this country.  A 2024 Gallup poll shows "Americans' Party ID" - Republican 28%, Democrat 28%, Independent 43%. For either party to win an election, they must get votes from independents forced to vote for the lesser of two evils. Many choose not to vote at all. That is not a true majority selecting that candidate or party.

Representative democracy is failing in the U.S.  Candidates that become office holders become accountable not to their constituency but to their primary voters.  Eighty percent of voters don't vote in primaries.  That doesn't speak well for the electorate, but it’s hard to get motivated when your choice is which candidate you dislike the least.  It should be no surprise office holders look past the majority of their constituency and cater to the small pool of primary voters who put them on the ballot.  This results in a system rigged for failure.  Office holders aren’t incentivized to solve issues, they need enduring issues to fester and survive, rather than seek solutions.  Incumbents prefer that issues remain unresolved so they can be used to campaign against their opponents…again.  This is true here in Texas.

If the Texas GOP is successful in their President Trump-led redistricting to gain a larger majority in the U.S. Congress, they will certainly gain a more sizable majority in the Texas legislature as well.  The Forward Party of Texas wants to balance out the Texas legislature by building a third party who can create a legislature where no party is a majority to force all representatives to work together to solve problems, be accountable to their constituents, and pass needed legislation for the benefit of all Texans.  An electoral process that only has two choices (or only one!) doesn’t reflect the desires of a diverse electorate. 

In the words of John Adams, the second President of the United States, in a letter to Jonathan Jackson in 1780, “There is nothing I dread So much, as a Division of the Republick into two great Parties, each arranged under its Leader, and concerting Measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble Apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political Evil under our Constitution.“  We couldn’t agree more.

Diane Wright, Denton County Co-Chair, Texas Forward Party

Gallup poll link:  https://news.gallup.com/poll/15370/party-affiliation.aspx. 

Primary participation link: https://bipartisanpolicy.org/press-release/voters-dont-participate-primaries/