National Republican Redistricting Trust

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Read about the Democratic and Republican organizations formed to shape redistricting after the 2020 census: National Democratic Redistricting Committee • National Republican Redistricting Trust

National Republican Redistricting Trust
Basic facts
Affiliation:	Republican Party
Year founded:	2017
Promoted policies
Redistricting Policy

The National Republican Redistricting Trust (NRRT) is an organization that aims to position Republicans favorably for the round of redistricting following the 2020 census. The Washington Examiner reported in September 2017 that the group was formed as a counterweight to the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), a group chaired by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder that is working to position Democrats favorably for the post-2020 census round of redistricting.

The Associated Press reported that the GOP "claimed more than 55 percent of the seats in the House in the last election even though they edged Democratic candidates by just 1 percentage point in total votes." The NRRT's executive director Guy Harrison said Democrats wanted to blame redistricting for that difference, but he saw it differently. “You will notice how many Republicans are sitting in districts that Clinton won, districts that Obama won. Yet we still win those districts. That is not a cause of redistricting,” said Harrison. “That is a cause of us having quality candidates that can win the unique circumstances of those districts.”

Mission

In a statement published in Politico, Harrison offered the following description of the NRRT's mission:

“

Our job is redistricting. While they're [the party's campaign committees are] focusing on the politics, we're moving on the legal and data aspects. When we get to drawing maps [after the 2020 census]... they will have a lot of building blocks and tools available to them.

”

Background

The NRRT launched in September 2017. The Washington Examiner reported that it was formed as a counterweight to its Democratic counterpart, the NDRC. According to Politico, the NRRT is organized as a legal trust and is not obligated to disclose its donors.

Work

The NRRT aims to position the Republican Party favorably for the round of redistricting following the 2020 census. According to a September 2017 memo, it intends to "serve as a central resource to coordinate and collaborate" Republican efforts on redistricting. Politico and the Examiner reported that its focus is on coordinating redistricting strategy, with an emphasis on legal action and data collection and interpretation rather than contributions to individual campaigns.

"We are definitely going to back lawsuits and push in any way possible possible to have an even playing field in redistricting, especially in states that have always been drawn by Democrats," Harrison said. "We have failed to go on offense in the past in states like Illinois and Maryland where we can wage legal battles." He added that, "We're going to do the basic [data] science [to assist with drawing district maps after the census]. Here's the data, here's the population growth."

According to a statement published by the Examiner on September 28, 2017, the NRRT supports the following approaches to redistricting:

“	Compact Districts: In political science, compact districts are districts with higher Reock and/or Polsby-Popper scores. But compactness scores are impacted by both physical and political geography. A district that has an entire city may look compact but may not score well because of the city's boundaries. Preserving Communities of Interest: Like communities (can be defined myriad ways) should be kept together. Cities should be whole within districts or districts whole within cities rather than stretched out into suburban and rural areas to spread their influence across entire states. Split as few counties and other political geographies as possible. Complying with the Federal Laws including the Voting Rights Act and State Law Requirements: Ensuring that every district drawn complies with federal law and constitutional requirements. This includes Section 2 requirements, along with Fourteenth amendment requirements. State laws sometimes require specific drawing methods or other requirements that must be followed.	”
—National Republican Redistricting Trust (2017)

Fundraising

The NRRT announced in September 2017 that it intended to raise $35 million by 2020.

Amicus briefs

On February 3, 2018, the Springfield News-Leader reported that the NRRT helped fund amicus briefs opposing legal challenges to district maps in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

One of the state officials who joined the briefs, Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, said he was concerned about the potential precedent such challenges could set. "As Secretary of State, it is my job to help ensure Missouri has smooth elections," Ashcroft said. "The elections administration process is both an important and complicated one, and it is simply too close to candidate filing and elections in 2018 to change district lines, prepare new district maps and identify and notify voters of any changes."

Leadership

According to the Washington Examiner and Politico, the following individuals held leadership roles with the NRRT as of September 2017:

• Guy Harrison, Senior advisor
• Jason Torchinsky, General counsel
• Gail Gitcho, Communications
• Lauren Bryan, Finance

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms National Republican Redistricting Trust. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

National Republican Redistricting Trust - Google News

See also

• National Democratic Redistricting Committee
• Redistricting Policy
  • Redistricting
  • Gerrymandering
• Republican National Committee
• Republican Party