Democratic group invests in state-level races this year with an eye on future redistricting cycles

A Democratic group led by former Attorney General Eric Holder is looking to play the long game on redistricting, funneling money and political firepower into state-level races this year in hope of influencing future map-drawing cycles.

The National Democratic Redistricting Committee plans to invest more than $1 million across 11 states as Holder hits the campaign trail for state legislative and Supreme Court candidates. The goal is to begin to weaken the GOP's control over the redistricting process, which typically occurs at the start of each decade, in key states.

“What I wouldn’t give for the four years before 2017 to be able to set the table,” NDRC President John Bisognano told NBC News, referring to the years ahead of critical elections that shaped the 2020 redistricting cycle. “We now have this time and this gift of time to be able to focus in on specific elections, specific states, that are going to make a difference for the redistricting cycle viscerally.”

The group will target seats in both chambers of the legislatures in Arizona, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin; the state Houses in Georgia, Michigan and Minnesota; and the state Supreme Courts in Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas. The NDRC also plans to get involved in the governor’s race in New Hampshire and the redistricting ballot initiative in Ohio.

Holder is expected to headline events in Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin and raise money for individual candidates, too.

The group is particularly looking to Wisconsin as a model for how it can influence other states.

“Wisconsin in 2018 had Gov. Scott Walker with a fully Republican rubber-stamp Supreme Court that was enacting an extreme agenda. It took a long time to curb that state back into a place of normalcy, and frankly, now we’ve reached the point where I feel comfortable saying democracy,” Bisognano said.

In recent years, the group joined with allies to target state Supreme Court races and support Democrat Tony Evers for governor. Last year, liberals won control of the state Supreme Court and later forced the state to redraw its gerrymandered legislative maps.

“The results of the elections in the coming months will have far-reaching consequences for years to come and determine whether more states trend toward the will of the people, freedom and fairness, or fall victim to gerrymandering and partisan autocracy. There is no cavalry coming. It’s up to all of us—the voters—to raise our voices and to reject this anti-democracy agenda at the ballot box,” Holder said in a statement. “That’s why NDRC will be dedicating a significant amount of its time and resources to ensure voters know what is at stake in these races, who the candidates truly are, and to help get out the vote."