EMILYs List Statement on the Supreme Court Decision to Allow Partisan Gerrymandering to Continue

For Immediate Release
June 27, 2019

EMILYs List Statement on the Supreme Court Decision to Allow Partisan Gerrymandering to Continue

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled against challengers to partisan gerrymandering — the practice of one party redrawing electoral districts to their benefit — saying that the Constitution does not bar the practice. In response, Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List, released the following statement: 

“Today's Supreme Court decision was a blow to democracy and to voters everywhere. As Justice Elena Kagan noted in her dissent, 'The partisan gerrymanders in these cases deprived citizens of the most fundamental of their constitutional rights: the rights to participate equally in the political process, to join with others to advance political beliefs, and to choose their political representatives.' It's clear that the court will not protect voters' rights to fair maps, so we will double down on our efforts to take back state legislatures and ensure that Republicans cannot continue to draw partisan lines to protect their party over the rights of voters.”

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $600 million to elect pro-choice Democratic women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, and turning out women voters to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 150 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and nearly 1,100 women to state and local office. Nearly 40 percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. During the historic 2017-2018 cycle, EMILYs List raised a record-breaking $110 million and launched a record independent expenditure campaign. We helped elect 34 new women to the House, including 24 red-to-blue victories; enough seats to have delivered the U.S. House majority alone. Since the 2016 election, more than 46,000 women have reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state and national offices.