February 22, 2026
Democracy, but make it DLC
America's most partisan voters hold the most voting power
Rigged by the Rulebook? Internet Explodes Over Who Really Picks Congress
TLDR: Experts say redrawn voting maps mean a tiny group of primary voters will effectively choose most members of Congress, leaving general elections as a formality. Commenters are split between calling the system fundamentally broken and accusing the article of using shaky stats and clicky framing, but everyone agrees: this affects real power.
America’s next Congress might be chosen by a tiny slice of voters, and the internet is not taking it quietly. The article warns that thanks to carefully redrawn voting maps, most races are now boring blowouts, with real decisions happening in low-turnout party primaries. But commenters immediately pounced on the headline math. One user mocked the “5% decide everything” claim with a soccer analogy, saying it’s like pretending only the last goal won the game while ignoring the other six — cue a whole thread debating whether non-swing voters are invisible or just under‑appreciated.
Another pile-on came for the “32 states have no competitive races” stat. Commenters pointed out that many of those states only have one or two seats anyway, accusing the article of playing fast and loose with drama. Meanwhile, reform fans showed up with a wish list from democracy hell: kill the Electoral College, redraw districts fairly, add more members to Congress, slap on term limits and age caps — basically, hit reset on the entire system. Others tried to murder the myth of the “swing voter,” insisting U.S. politics is really just turnout vs. suppression. And then came the coldest take of all: safe districts aren’t powerful at all, because parties ignore voters they can take for granted. Ouch.
Key Points
- •Experts say mid‑decade redistricting efforts, encouraged by Donald Trump and others, have sharply reduced the number of competitive U.S. House races.
- •The Cook Political Report currently rates only 18 of 435 House races as toss‑ups, meaning less than 5% of Americans will effectively decide control of the House.
- •Unite America Institute estimates that in 2024, about 7% of voters effectively chose 87% of House members due to safe districts and primary dominance.
- •New maps in states like Texas and California are designed to create more safe seats for each party, deepening partisan alignment without giving a clear net advantage to either side.
- •Primary electorates are older, whiter, wealthier, more educated, and more ideologically extreme than the general public, contributing to a more polarized and less accountable Congress.