Gerrymandering Around Massachusetts

Massachusetts put the Gerry in gerrymander. The term - which refers to a political act of purposely restructuring a voting district into a shape that favors a certain political party or candidate - was coined in 1812 after Republican Massachusetts governor and signer of the Declaration of Independence Elbridge Gerry turned a North Shore legislative district into something resembling a salamander.

Boston Gazette editor Benjamin Russell, a member of the rival Federalist Party, was said to remarked that the shape should be called a "Gerrymander." The Gazette published a satirical editorial and cartoon about the shape and its new nickname on March 26, 1812.

Although the practice of reshaping voting districts to favor a certain party was not limited to Massachusetts, nor to the Republican party, the Massachusetts term "gerrymander" stuck, and is now listed in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as an official word.

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