by Karl Kurtz
This message arrived today on NCSL's redistricting listserv from Kim Brace at Election Data Services, Inc.:
Happy
Anniversary to all those involved in redistricting:
On this date in 1812 - Massachusetts Governor
Elbridge Gerry signs a redistricting law that favors his party — giving rise to the term "gerrymandering."
The shape of the legislative district that Gov. Gerry supported resembled a salamander. Here is Wikipedia's etymology of the word:
Printed in 1812, this political cartoon illustrates the electoral districts drawn by the Massachusetts legislature to favor the incumbent Democratic-Republican party candidates of Governor Elbridge Gerry over the Federalists, from which the term gerrymander is derived. The cartoon depicts the bizarre shape of a district in Essex County, Massachusetts as a dragon. The painter, Gilbert Stuart, likened it to a salamander, and the editor, Benjamin Russel, advised "Better say a Gerrymander." The name stuck.
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