'I’m going to go nuclear!' Riled senator declares war on GOP over vote-rigging claims

As Texas lawmakers gear up for a special session in an attempt to flip Democrat-controlled congressional seats by redrawing the state's districts, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) pledged Wednesday to “go nuclear” in response, suggesting Democrats should arbitrarily redraw their own states’ districts to bolster their own numbers.

“They’re trying to pick their voters, they’re trying to redraw the lines in the middle of the decade so that they have more seats, it is very open and obvious,” Slotkin said, speaking at an Axios event in Washington, D.C.

“If they’re going to go nuclear in Texas, I’m going to go nuclear in other places. I’m not going to fight with one arm tied behind my back. I don’t want to do that, but if they’re proposing to rig the game, we’re going to get in that game and fight.”

Following pressure from the White House, Texas lawmakers are hoping to redraw the state’s congressional districts in such a way as to give them an additional five Republican House members. Top House Democrats have urged Texas Democrats to resist those efforts, leading to Texas AG Ken Paxton to threaten any dissenters with prosecution.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has hinted that his state’s lawmakers may respond in kind by arbitrarily redrawing their own districts in such a way as to boost their numbers in Congress, and now, Slotkin appears to be suggesting Michigan Democrats do the same, reversing the state’s current apolitical method of drawing congressional districts.

“In Michigan, we felt so strongly about gerrymandering and how bad it is when politicians get to draw their own districts that we passed a constitutional amendment wildly bipartisanly,” Slotkin said.

“My swing state, we voted on that and it was deeply popular, and now we have a citizen’s commission that meets every decade and draws the lines, and it’s much more rational. It’s also competitive, it makes sure you have politicians who compete.”

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