Democrats’ redistricting win could tip midterms in their favor

Here & Now Anytime

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4.1 • 953 Ratings

🗓️ 22 April 2026

⏱️ 20 minutes

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Summary

Voters in Virginia narrowly gave the thumbs up to new congressional maps that could allow Democrats to pick up four seats in the House after President Trump aggressively pushed red states to redistrict to help Republicans. Semafor reporter David Weigel tells us more.

Then, a wave of political controversies is back in the headlines, but not all scandals land the same way. Political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus talks about how politicians survive controversy.

And, the Women’s Suffrage National Monument will be the first standalone monument on the National Mall dedicated to American women’s history. Patricia Taft, an ambassador for the Women’s Suffrage National Monument Foundation and great-granddaughter of former President William Howard Taft, explains how you can be a part of it.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	WBUR Podcasts, Boston.
0:06.5	Maybe Republicans take the lesson here that we just need a national ban on gerrymandering.
0:11.8	Democrats notch a win in the race to redraw congressional maps.
0:16.3	It's Wednesday, April 22nd, and this is here and now anytime from NPR and WBUR Boston. I'm Ashley Locke.
0:29.8	Today on the show, political scandals are roaring back in the headlines, why some lead to downfall and others have few consequences.
0:43.7	And...
0:44.5	Something monumental is coming!
0:47.7	How you can have a say in the National Mall's only monument dedicated to women's history.
0:53.1	But first, Democrats are celebrating a victory
0:58.1	as they try to take back control of Congress. A slim majority of voters in Virginia have given the
1:04.2	thumbs up to a ballot measure to redraw the state's congressional map, likely giving Democrats
1:10.0	four additional House seats in this
1:12.0	fall's midterm elections. David Weigel is a politics reporter covering the news for
1:17.8	semaphore. He chats with Scott Tong about the significance of what's happening.
1:22.3	You're at a political conference. We hear a little bit of a convention center noise in the background. Virginia is now
1:30.0	considered a blue state. But this is a very close vote. What do you make of the results?
1:35.7	It was a close vote that Democrats anticipate. The state only voted for Kamala Harris by six
1:41.1	points. So Democrats always saw this as a single-digit race they'd have to grind out.
1:45.6	And Republicans ran a very good campaign, which I saw on the ground.
1:49.0	They had resources, which California Republicans did not have, when they tried to beat a similar
1:53.2	effort in 2025.
1:55.6	They had former Governor Glenn Yonkin, who remains popular, personally campaigning for it.
	...

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