Sunday News Correspondent
GOFFSTOWN — Amid widespread speculation about his 2020 presidential ambitions, former Attorney General Eric Holder paid a visit to the New Hampshire Institute of Politics on Friday morning to deliver an unequivocal argument against what he views as widespread gerrymandering of state and federal congressional districts across the country.
Participating in the institute’s ongoing Politics and Eggs series at St. Anselm College, the nation’s former top lawman in the Obama administration, and current chairman of the Democratic Party’s National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), left little room for misunderstanding his views on gerrymandering.
“It might strike you all as a bit hyperbolic, but I think our democracy is under attack,” Holder said. “We have had misrepresentation instead of representation — that’s had a real impact on our nation and it’s part of the reason we have dysfunction in D.C.
“If you’re in a safe district, you don’t have to worry about the general election. All you have to worry about is a primary. As a result, people drift further and further to the right in the Republican Party, and don’t want to interact with or compromise with their Democratic counterparts.”
While much of his criticism was directed at Republican-led redistricting efforts following the party’s state and federal victories in 2010, Holder also took aim at Democratic efforts to create safe districts.
Specifically, Holder singled out New Hampshire’s 2nd Executive Council seat, currently held by first-term Councilor Andru Volinsky. The district arcs across the width of the state from Keene to Concord, Durham, and Somersworth and is widely seen as a safe Democratic seat.
Referring to the district as “The Dragon” because of its shape, Holder designated the…
