While Democratic challengers have been trying (and failing) for years to defeat Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), redistricting could well send Nunes into early retirement as soon as the 2022 midterm elections.
The Fresno Bee reports that the California redistricting commission has just unveiled a map which would put Nunes in a new district which went heavily for President Joe Biden in 2020:
An editor for The Cook Political Report, which tracks elections, wrote on Twitter that Nunes’ district would turn from having voted for former President Donald Trump in 2020 by five percentage points to one that backed President Joe Biden by nine.
While the maps could be changed as a result of constituent feedback, the redistricting commission has the final say in the matter.
There are few members of Congress from the Golden State who are more despised than Nunes, a loyal supporter of Trump who even went on what later became known as “Devin’s midnight run,” a late night meeting at the White House in 2017 where he was given access to a confidential source and shared classified intelligence with Trump.
The head of the House Intelligence Committee secretly went to the White House grounds to meet with a source, before he surprised his colleagues by briefing the president — and the press — on information they hadn’t seen.
In other words, Nunes broke with protocol in an attempt to curry favor with Trump and short-circuit the investigation of possible ties between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russian officials, meaning he directly helped benefit the Russians as they sought to hide their connections to Trump.
Under the proposed redistricting plan, the city of Fresno would be split three ways, with Nunes getting a slice of the city but seeing his new district turn considerably bluer than it is now, which could be the end of his political career.
About the only option Nunes would have is to run in a more Republican district, though those are few and far between in California as Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report noted:
Nunes has represented the 22nd congressional district since 2013.
As of today, Nunes is already facing four Democratic challengers in next year’s election, and if redistricting makes the 22nd even more Democratic, Nunes appears headed for an almost certain loss.