The following article by Seema Mehta was posted on the Los Angeles Times website September 6, 2017:
Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is among about three dozen prominent Republicans who filed friend-of-the-court briefs in a closely watched gerrymandering lawsuit that is scheduled to be heard before the U.S. Supreme Court next month.
Breaking ranks with GOP leadership, Schwarzenegger joined with Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Arizona Sen. John McCain, former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole and other present and former elected officials on Tuesday to argue that redistricting — the drawing of legislative and congressional district lines — in a way that favors any political party is unconstitutional.
Schwarzenegger attributes gridlock in the nation’s capital to redistricting that results in many politicians being drawn into “safe” districts, which he argues discourages collaboration and encourages extreme partisanship.
“No matter what happens, we don’t solve the problem. But at the same time, 98% of the congressional guys are getting reelected. It just shows you how fixed the system is,” he told reporters during a conference call on Wednesday.
Schwarzenegger said both parties are guilty of trying to redraw district lines in ways that help their chances, but that such efforts create a lack of competitiveness. He drew an analogy with his days as a bodybuilder.
“It was very clear I didn’t lift as much, and I didn’t do as well as when there was competition and fear. And the more competition there was, the more I lifted, the more I performed,” he said. “This is just the same thing, but in politics.”
Redrawing of legislative and congressional lines occurs at least once a decade to accommodate changes in population. States are responsible for redrawing the lines, and the political party in power is often seen as heavily influencing the outcome. In a handful of states, including California, the lines are redrawn by independent bodies.
The case the Republican politicians are weighing in on involves the 2011 redrawing of state Assembly district lines in Wisconsin. A group of Democratic voters argued that the new districts were drawn so unfairly that they violated their constitutional rights. A federal judicial panel agreed in November, leading the state to appeal and the upcoming Supreme Court hearing.
Schwarzenegger first became interested in gerrymandering when he was governor. In 2008, he championed a successful ballot measure that created an independent commission to draw legislative district boundaries. Voters approved another ballot measure two years later that expanded the commission’s purview to include congressional districts.
Addressing gerrymandering has been one of Schwarzenegger’s priorities since he left Sacramento, in addition to fighting climate change, restarting his movie career and occasionally trolling President Trump.
Schwarzenegger has used his celebrity to garner attention for what is a relatively obscure subject, including creating biting videos that have gone viral. He is also crowd-sourcing money to help pay the legal bills for the plaintiffs in the Wisconsin case and has pledged to match every dollar raised — so far more than $100,000.