How Democrat gerrymandering has made it nearly impossible for Republicans to make even bigger gains in the House

The red wave should have been bigger.The GOP gained control of all three branches of government this week, but ultra-gerrymandered districts around the country have made it close to impossible for Republicans to make even bigger gains in the House.More than a dozen seats that were winnable in the 2010s are anything but in the 2020s, GOP insiders told The Post, leaving the party suck around 218 seats, the minimum needed to control the chamber.“What you’ve seen is that you have many fewer competitive seats in the country because the way in which redistricting is conducted,” said former New York GOP Rep.

John Faso, who has made a career of fighting partisan redistricting in the Empire State.New Jersey’s 11th and 5th districts, representing Morris and Bergen counties respectively, were swing districts in the 2010s until they were redrawn by the New Jersey Congressional Redistricting Commission in 2021.Both were fortified with Democratic towns like Englewood and Englewood Cliffs in the 5th district and Maplewood, South Orange, and Belleville in the 11th.

The moved shored up Dem Reps.Mikie Sherrill and Josh Gottheimer.

New Jersey’s third district, represented by Rep.Andy Kim (now heading to the U.S.

Senate) centered in Moorestown became considerably more Democrat after losing most of Ocean County — which backed Trump this year by more than 67% of the vote.“Very clearly what they tried to do was created as much of a status quo map for their incumbents as possible.”Both Gottheimer and Sherrill cruised to victory in 2022 and 2024.

Kim’s replacement Herb Conaway also coasted to a win over his GOP opponent.Republicans said the new lines unduly corralled their voters into a “sink” fourth district in Manchester Township, now represented by Rep.

Chris Smith.“Very clearly what they tried to do was created as much of a status quo map for their incumbents as possible,” Harrison Neely, a GOP political consultant who participated in the state redistr...