Republicans in North Carolina fought in court to stop computer files found on the redistricting expert's hard drives from going public. Now his daughter, Stephanie Hofeller, is sharing them online.
Republican strategist Thomas Hofeller was probably best known for using race-based gerrymandering in an attempt to solidify Republican political dominance by diluting minority votes. In North Carolina, for example, multiple federal courts--including the U.S. Supreme Court itself--ruled that Hofeller’s gerrymandered political maps were unconstitutional due to racial discrimination.
Republicans, of course, have always protested that they weren’t being racist or partisan. After Hofeller died, however, it turned out that some of his files contained proof of the contrary, such as expressly stating that his proposed district maps “‘would be advantageous to Republicans and non-Hispanic whites,’ and would dilute the political power of the state’s Hispanics.”
Hofeller’s daughter Stephanie produced those incriminating files in response to a valid subpoena. When Republicans realized their contents, they immediately demanded that the court order the files permanently sealed or even destroyed. They lost; the files were admitted into evidence at trial, and they became part of the basis for the court’s final judgment against the GOP last September.
Stephanie has now made many of her father’s files public, which should thwart further GOP efforts to conceal this information. Enjoy!
