What Next | The Redistricting Arms Race Is On

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Slate Podcasts

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.6 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 3 November 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Fearing a Democratic-led House of Representatives, Donald Trump set off a state-redistricting arms race when he asked Texas to find him five more safe GOP seats. This triggered California to go hunting for five more Democratic seats, and states like North Carolina and Missouri to search for other seats in the margins. But in some states, Trump’s demands are running into rare Republican resistance. Guest: Ari Berman, voting rights reporter at Mother Jones. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ready to launch your business? Get started with the commerce platform made for entrepreneurs.
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0:24.4	Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com slash setup.
0:36.4	If all goes as expected, tomorrow, the last of California's voters are going to head to the polls and decide to totally upend the 2026 midterms.
0:47.4	They're going to do that, not by voting for or against a person. They're going to be voting instead for a plan.
0:57.6	Oh, California has less than a week until the November 4th special election on Proposition 50.
1:02.7	That's the ballot measure to temporarily redraw state congressional lines ahead of next year's midterms.
1:08.9	This ballot measure, Prop 50,
1:11.8	slices and dices California's congressional maps
1:14.5	to carve out as many as five more seats for the Dems.
1:19.3	These representatives would head to the Capitol in a matter of months.
1:23.7	You want to beat Trump?
1:25.0	Democrats can't keep playing by the old rules.
1:27.3	The ads for this proposal don't leave much room for debate about what California is trying to do here.
1:33.6	Vote yes on Prop 50 and let's stick it to Trump.
1:38.9	Is anyone worried about this ballot measure, whether it's going to pass or not?
1:43.1	Not really. Every poll has shown it
1:45.8	over 50%. Ari Berman reports on redistricting over at Mother Jones. If I'd asked you, like, five years ago,
1:56.8	will California be redrawing its maps in this way?
	...

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