“There’s no more dangerous thing to democracy, other than Donald Trump, than this gerrymandering. It is topmost in our minds,” said Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, the chair of the DGA. | Ted S. Warren/AP Photo Democratic governors reserve $20M in ads for redistricting fight

The Democratic Governors Association and affiliated groups on Thursday reserved $20 million in advertising time through the year to highlight the brewing battle over redistricting in four target states.

The money will be split between Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio. Those four are among the eight states that the DGA last month announced were the targeted governors races in which to talk up the importance of electing Democratic governors ahead of the redistricting process, which would take place after the next census and toward the end of the terms of governors elected this year.


A range of Democratic groups have prioritized the fights for redistricting, but this represents what would be the biggest expenditure so far by any of them.

The ads haven’t been made yet, and the money to pay for them is still being raised.

“There’s no more dangerous thing to democracy, other than Donald Trump, than this gerrymandering. It is topmost in our minds,” said Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, the chair of the DGA.

Inslee said that he’s been struck by how resonant the issue has become not just among activists, but among donors, and said he expected that the DGA will easily raise the money to pay for this and more ad buys: “We’re doing well, it’s going to take a lot of work, but we’re getting great response,” he said.

The money will be split close to evenly between the four states.