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John, 2025 will be remembered as the year Donald Trump picked up the phone to demand five congressional seats from Governor Greg Abbott. And in doing so, he ignited a crisis — and a nationwide opposition movement. 2025 also gave new meaning to the adage that there are no off-years when it comes to redistricting. After Texas forced through their gerrymander, Missouri and North Carolina followed suit, passing some of the most egregiously unfair maps in the country. Meanwhile, it started to become clear that the redistricting crisis Trump engineered wasn’t going as planned. Utah threw out an unfair map in favor of a fair one that creates the possibility of a Democratic district. Indiana lawmakers (including many Republicans) voted down their gerrymandering push despite incredible pressure from Washington to force it through. And 305,000 Missourians signed petitions to put the gerrymandered map lawmakers forced through on the ballot — a sign that the people could get the final say. If 2025 proved that when we fight back, we can win — 2026 is already putting that notion to the test. In January, as many as eight states could begin a mid-decade redraw, either as Republicans pursue egregious gerrymanders or as blue states move to counter them. That list includes: Kansas, Nebraska, Florida, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Virginia, Illinois, and Maryland. In other words: This fight is about to get much, much tougher — and the fate of our very democracy is at stake. That’s why this ask is so important right now: Will you invest in the NDR PAC’s work to stop Republican power grabs and fight for a level playing field in our democracy? Your donation will power our pro-democracy work in states across the country, wherever it’s needed most urgently.
We are also busy preparing for a critical Supreme Court ruling that we expect to come down in the near future — and its decision in Louisiana vs. Callais could completely upend our work. At issue is Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act — a legal lynchpin in our fight for fairness — which prohibits states from diluting the voting power of communities of color in the drawing of district lines. The fair maps movement is fighting this out in the courts, and have been since the start of this case. But we must be ready to respond regardless of the outcome to build a massive, people-powered movement to preserve representative democracy in America. Thank you, John, for steadfastly standing with us in this work. We are so proud to fight alongside you. — Biz John Bisognano
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