“We need to stop the partisan tit for tat”
Dear Editor,
I would like to commend Joe Sempolinski and Elise Stefanik for standing with Kathy Hochul against gerrymandering in their recent letters to the Wellsville Sun. As they point out, when politicians choose who gets elected, democracy dies.
The Republican in the Texas Legislature have called a special session to redistrict Texas to create five safe Republican seats. As they did the last time Texas was gerrymandered, the Democratic legislators left the state to deny the Republicans a quorum. In Texas, the Republican legislators have threatened to remove the Democratic legislators who object and are using the FBI to hunt them down.
Ms. Hochul says “I may be governor of New York, but I will not sit on the sidelines with timid souls and merely watch while Republicans dismantle democracy. That’s not who we are.”
Surprisingly, Governor Hochul’s clear denunciation of gerrymandering is cast by Assemblyman Sempolinski and Representative Stefanik, not as a denunciation but as support for it. The Texas redistricting follows the playbook Sempolinski and Stefanik condemn—mid-decade redrawing, partisan advantage-seeking, and voter disenfranchisement.
We need to stop the partisan tit for tat and work together to restore our proudest American accomplishment—rule by the people. Certainly, we can all agree that democracy is a shared value. As patriotic Americans, Assemblyman Sempolinski and Representative Stefanik must join forces with Governor Hochul to fight the scourge of gerrymandering, wherever it occurs.
Sincerely,
Nat Martin, Centerville NY
