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Mr. Holder, the attorney general in the Obama administration, has long fought to end gerrymandered legislative maps. But a Republican effort in Texas threatens democracy, he said in an interview.
Aug. 2, 2025Updated 9:44 a.m. ET
Eight years ago, Eric Holder, the attorney general in the Obama administration, embarked on a quest with a single, daunting goal: to eliminate politics from the process of drawing legislative districts.
Through the organization he leads, the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which has ties to Democrats, Mr. Holder has largely focused on fighting maps drawn by Republican legislatures, bringing legal challenges and political pressure in an effort to break Republican gerrymanders.
And while he has not always been as critical of Democrats, Mr. Holder has chastised some Democratic-led states and their legislatures for drawing egregious gerrymanders as well, arguing that “fairness for us is a weapon.”
But this week, something changed. Amid a contentious, Republican-led redistricting effort in Texas, Mr. Holder reversed course, arguing that Democrats should respond in kind, with their own aggressive gerrymander as a temporary salve in an increasingly fraught battle.
Democratic governors in several states, including California and New York, are considering rewriting laws or amending their states’ constitutions in order to redraw their maps.
In an interview on Friday, Mr. Holder explained the reasons behind his sudden shift and argued that Democrats needed to assert their power more forcefully.
