Former Attorney General Eric Holder Pushes Redistricting Reform in Columbia South Carolina Stop

For six years, Eric Holder was the nation’s top law enforcement official, serving as U.S. Attorney General under President Barack Obama.

Now the former attorney general has taken up a new cause — ending gerrymandering and bringing reform to the way political districts are drawn — and he brought the fight to Columbia on Thursday.

Holder, who is serving as the chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, led a panel discussion on gerrymandering at Second Nazareth Baptist Church in the Edgewood neighborhood. Other Democrats on the panel included state House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, state Sens. John Scott and Mia McLeod and former state Democratic Party chairman and current U.S. Senate candidate Jaime Harrison. About 100 people attended the event at the 116-year-old church in the predominantly African-American neighborhood.

With the U.S. census set for 2020, and redistricting at all levels of government to follow in 2021, Holder is pushing for district maps to be drawn in a more fair manner, noting that maps are often manipulated along racial lines, and created in a way that protects incumbents.

Read more: https://www.postandcourier.com/free-times/news/local_and_state_news/former-attorney-general-eric-holder-pushes-redistricting-reform-in-columbia/article_569559d2-8df1-11e9-ac0c-57edc6fad271.html
(Columbia Free Times)