Obama To Take On Resdistricting In Post-Presidency Project With Eric Holder

By TIERNEY SNEED Published OCTOBER 17, 2016, 12:04 PM EDT

After he leaves the White House, President Obama will make a major priority of his post-presidency political activity working with a campaign being spearheaded by former Attorney General Eric Holder that will focus on redistricting reform, a major elections issue that has allowed Republicans to trounce Democrats in state houses and in the U.S. House of Representatives.

According to a Politico report Monday, Holder will serve as chair of a new umbrella group called the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which will bring together national and state-level Democratic political groups, as well as unions and progressive organizations. The group will mobilize around elections in the years to come that will determine who gets to draw the districting maps after the 2020 census which will be in place for the following decade of elections. The White House has worked closely on launching the campaign, and the President strongly backed the choice of Holder as its chair, Politico said.

“American voters deserve fair maps that represent our diverse communities—and we need a coordinated strategy to make that happen,” Holder said, according to Politico. “This unprecedented new effort will ensure Democrats have a seat at the table to create fairer maps after 2020."

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