This post is in response to your blog. It contains several errors that are important to correct.
First, you state that Virginia’s vote is “to counterbalance what Texas voters did which resulted in more Republican representation (which Texas voters did in response to California’s gerrymandering)”. Two important elements of this statement are false: (1) implying the gerrymandering efforts originated with California and (2) that Texas voters actually were involved.
In July 2025, President Trump requested Texas revisit its congressional map to add additional Republican districts ahead of the 2026 elections (source: AP News). This is important and needs to be restated – the gerrymandering was started by Trump at his request in an effort to prevent the U.S. House of Representatives from flipping during the midterm elections so he and the GOP could maintain control.
In response to that request, on August 20, 2025, the Texas House approved House Bill 4 containing a new congressional map by an 88-52 vote along party lines. On August 23, 2025, the Texas Senate approved the map by an 18-11 vote along party lines. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the new map into law on August 29, 2025. The bill text stated the new district boundaries would take effect for the 2026 elections. Missouri and North Carolina followed Texas, with the state legislatures approving new maps adding additional republican seats (MO adopted on Sept. 28, 2025; NC on Oct. 22, 2025; source: Ballotopedia). In all of those cases, there were no special elections to give the citizens a say in whether the gerrymandering should proceed – they were passed solely within their state legislatures (source: Ballotopedia). Again for emphasis: Trump unfairly requested that power. Disenfranchising voters – voters in those states were never given a say.
On August 21, 2025, the California Legislature passed a redistricting plan setting a special election for a constitutional amendment to redraw the state's congressional district boundaries, which was passed in a November 4th special election to permit the adoption of a replacement map through 2030. VOTERS approved the proposition by a 65%-35% vote on November 4, 2025 (source: Ballotopedia).
You then go on to state that abortion rights are Virginia’s real goal in this effort: “That is their ultimate target. If they can stack Virginia votes with Democrats, they can pass a constitutional amendment in VA to enshrine abortion.” This is also false – the two are completely disconnected. The gerrymandering effort is to change Virginia’s U.S. House of Representative Districts – they will impact only federal congressional policy and Virginia’s representation regarding those policies. The amendment to Virginia’s constitution regarding abortion rights will be a ballot measure in the November 2026 elections, allowing Virginians to vote and decide on that issue. This will happen regardless of what happens with the gerrymandering decision.
These points matter because of the context and assertions present in your blog post – the unfairness of the effort, the disenfranchisement of voters, the fear mongering. From your blog:
“When either party has no logical arguments and is low on logic, they resort to fear. Fear is an excellent motivator.”
“Blame Trump. The Left’s obsessive hatred for Donald Trump is almost comical if it weren’t so dangerous.”
“That’s all they’ve got – fear…Everyone knows this is unfair for Virginians.”
“Fear. They will take your rights away. “
You are entitled to your opinions, and you are free to express those opinions – this is not about the policies. This is about how you discussed those policies – the pretext of fairness and truth, of uncovering lies and dishonesty. If those are to be the precepts of this argument, then the defense of fairness, honesty, accuracy, transparency, truth, should dictate the tenets of any response. This should especially be the case for a pastor. When your goal is to sway the views of others and you make statements as truth and fact that are misleading at best and patently false at worse, whether intentionally or mistakenly, you are lying. You are fear mongering. You are being unfair. You are calling into question your credibility.
So, to be clear: Trump STARTED this gerrymandering in an effort to unfairly prevent the U.S. House of Representatives from flipping during the midterm elections out of fear of losing GOP control. Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina voters were given no say in their states’ gerrymandering efforts. And Virginia VOTERS will decide in November, no matter what happens tomorrow, about a constitutional amendment on abortion.
Todd, I appreciate you engaging. You said quite a bit and also threw in the pastor card with, "This should especially be the case for a pastor. When your goal is to sway the views of others and you make statements as truth and fact that are misleading at best and patently false at worse, whether intentionally or mistakenly, you are lying. You are fear mongering. You are being unfair. You are calling into question your credibility."
So let me respond:
- You are right, and I'm wrong about the timing of the Texas-California efforts. Texas started it, but to be fair, California had been talking about it already. It took them longer to respond due to the way they approached their effort (through vote). I will correct my article above. Thank you for pointing that out!
- However, if you think Trump has the power to make 88 Texas House Republicans and 18 Texas Senators pass the redistricting effort, I think you overestimate him. They were all elected by Texans (before the redistricting). It's democracy at work. Trump didn't order them to do it and had no power to do so or enforce their behavior. Other GOP-led states also followed suit.
- But you may have missed the point about my connection to abortion. I didn't make the connection. The mailer did. It clearly states, ""ABORTION ACCESS IS AT RISK IN VIRGINIA IF DONALD TRUMP RIGS THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS. WE CAN'T LET THAT HAPPEN. VOTE YES BY APRIL 21ST." They are the ones who made that connection and their motivation is fear-mongering and Trump.
- I also understand the redistricting will mainly impact federal policies as far as state-elected federal representatives. However, downstream, it will impact state policies as well. If Democrats gained more U.S. House seats from Virginia, it could help pass (or block) national abortion legislation.
- I also see that your point in what I stated that redistricting would give Democrats the power to enshrine abortion access with a constitutional amendment. I agree that only voters can do that, but that is their aim, and they would use their influence to do so. I am going to reword that part of the article (My original wording was "If they can stack Virginia votes with Democrats, they can pass a constitutional amendment in VA to enshrine abortion.") Thanks for parsing that out and also drawing attention that voters must approve a change of that nature.
- Finally, I am still thankful for my NO vote. I don't want Virginians to be misrepresented as some type of grand political scheme on a national level. I think Brian Cannon's article is helpful to explain that. I DO think Democrats would use more political clout/power on a national and state level to advance policies that I as a pastor have a hard time reconciling with biblical teachings that lead to human flourishing.
But thank you for the corrections. I appreciate it.
wow this is frightening, who knows how long until something like this comes up in Minnesota.? Thanks for the warning and the heads up Jeff, something to be watchful for.
Jeff,
This post is in response to your blog. It contains several errors that are important to correct.
First, you state that Virginia’s vote is “to counterbalance what Texas voters did which resulted in more Republican representation (which Texas voters did in response to California’s gerrymandering)”. Two important elements of this statement are false: (1) implying the gerrymandering efforts originated with California and (2) that Texas voters actually were involved.
In July 2025, President Trump requested Texas revisit its congressional map to add additional Republican districts ahead of the 2026 elections (source: AP News). This is important and needs to be restated – the gerrymandering was started by Trump at his request in an effort to prevent the U.S. House of Representatives from flipping during the midterm elections so he and the GOP could maintain control.
In response to that request, on August 20, 2025, the Texas House approved House Bill 4 containing a new congressional map by an 88-52 vote along party lines. On August 23, 2025, the Texas Senate approved the map by an 18-11 vote along party lines. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the new map into law on August 29, 2025. The bill text stated the new district boundaries would take effect for the 2026 elections. Missouri and North Carolina followed Texas, with the state legislatures approving new maps adding additional republican seats (MO adopted on Sept. 28, 2025; NC on Oct. 22, 2025; source: Ballotopedia). In all of those cases, there were no special elections to give the citizens a say in whether the gerrymandering should proceed – they were passed solely within their state legislatures (source: Ballotopedia). Again for emphasis: Trump unfairly requested that power. Disenfranchising voters – voters in those states were never given a say.
On August 21, 2025, the California Legislature passed a redistricting plan setting a special election for a constitutional amendment to redraw the state's congressional district boundaries, which was passed in a November 4th special election to permit the adoption of a replacement map through 2030. VOTERS approved the proposition by a 65%-35% vote on November 4, 2025 (source: Ballotopedia).
You then go on to state that abortion rights are Virginia’s real goal in this effort: “That is their ultimate target. If they can stack Virginia votes with Democrats, they can pass a constitutional amendment in VA to enshrine abortion.” This is also false – the two are completely disconnected. The gerrymandering effort is to change Virginia’s U.S. House of Representative Districts – they will impact only federal congressional policy and Virginia’s representation regarding those policies. The amendment to Virginia’s constitution regarding abortion rights will be a ballot measure in the November 2026 elections, allowing Virginians to vote and decide on that issue. This will happen regardless of what happens with the gerrymandering decision.
These points matter because of the context and assertions present in your blog post – the unfairness of the effort, the disenfranchisement of voters, the fear mongering. From your blog:
“When either party has no logical arguments and is low on logic, they resort to fear. Fear is an excellent motivator.”
“Blame Trump. The Left’s obsessive hatred for Donald Trump is almost comical if it weren’t so dangerous.”
“That’s all they’ve got – fear…Everyone knows this is unfair for Virginians.”
“Fear. They will take your rights away. “
You are entitled to your opinions, and you are free to express those opinions – this is not about the policies. This is about how you discussed those policies – the pretext of fairness and truth, of uncovering lies and dishonesty. If those are to be the precepts of this argument, then the defense of fairness, honesty, accuracy, transparency, truth, should dictate the tenets of any response. This should especially be the case for a pastor. When your goal is to sway the views of others and you make statements as truth and fact that are misleading at best and patently false at worse, whether intentionally or mistakenly, you are lying. You are fear mongering. You are being unfair. You are calling into question your credibility.
So, to be clear: Trump STARTED this gerrymandering in an effort to unfairly prevent the U.S. House of Representatives from flipping during the midterm elections out of fear of losing GOP control. Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina voters were given no say in their states’ gerrymandering efforts. And Virginia VOTERS will decide in November, no matter what happens tomorrow, about a constitutional amendment on abortion.
Todd, I appreciate you engaging. You said quite a bit and also threw in the pastor card with, "This should especially be the case for a pastor. When your goal is to sway the views of others and you make statements as truth and fact that are misleading at best and patently false at worse, whether intentionally or mistakenly, you are lying. You are fear mongering. You are being unfair. You are calling into question your credibility."
So let me respond:
- You are right, and I'm wrong about the timing of the Texas-California efforts. Texas started it, but to be fair, California had been talking about it already. It took them longer to respond due to the way they approached their effort (through vote). I will correct my article above. Thank you for pointing that out!
- However, if you think Trump has the power to make 88 Texas House Republicans and 18 Texas Senators pass the redistricting effort, I think you overestimate him. They were all elected by Texans (before the redistricting). It's democracy at work. Trump didn't order them to do it and had no power to do so or enforce their behavior. Other GOP-led states also followed suit.
- But you may have missed the point about my connection to abortion. I didn't make the connection. The mailer did. It clearly states, ""ABORTION ACCESS IS AT RISK IN VIRGINIA IF DONALD TRUMP RIGS THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS. WE CAN'T LET THAT HAPPEN. VOTE YES BY APRIL 21ST." They are the ones who made that connection and their motivation is fear-mongering and Trump.
- I also understand the redistricting will mainly impact federal policies as far as state-elected federal representatives. However, downstream, it will impact state policies as well. If Democrats gained more U.S. House seats from Virginia, it could help pass (or block) national abortion legislation.
- I also see that your point in what I stated that redistricting would give Democrats the power to enshrine abortion access with a constitutional amendment. I agree that only voters can do that, but that is their aim, and they would use their influence to do so. I am going to reword that part of the article (My original wording was "If they can stack Virginia votes with Democrats, they can pass a constitutional amendment in VA to enshrine abortion.") Thanks for parsing that out and also drawing attention that voters must approve a change of that nature.
- Finally, I am still thankful for my NO vote. I don't want Virginians to be misrepresented as some type of grand political scheme on a national level. I think Brian Cannon's article is helpful to explain that. I DO think Democrats would use more political clout/power on a national and state level to advance policies that I as a pastor have a hard time reconciling with biblical teachings that lead to human flourishing.
But thank you for the corrections. I appreciate it.
wow this is frightening, who knows how long until something like this comes up in Minnesota.? Thanks for the warning and the heads up Jeff, something to be watchful for.