That map reeks of bad faith on the GOP's part though.
Not terribly surprising for a commission that was crafted and passed in bad faith on the Republican Party's part. The vehicle Republicans created to facilitate their future shenanigans was never going to be used by them for actual fair (or reasonably so) redistricting.Exactly. This setup was a trap set by the Republicans and Democrats fell right into it by passing it. Republicans only threw up this measure to forestall a Democratic gerrymander, not as a good faith good government reform. Virginia may not be the Southern state it once was, but I think Virginia Republicans are still very much Southern in nature and there seems to be a particular vindictive spitefulness from Southern Republicans in general. It's not a coincidence that this is the one commission that has broken down (not including the essentially joke pro forma commissions like Ohio or the nonbinding ones in Iowa and Utah).
The issue isn't with commissions in general. There are right things to do and there are wrong things to do. I'm not a fan of the single tie-breaker model, for example. There are also a variety of different factors and standards to consider and some states balance them differently. As noted before, Michigan's constitutional amendment prioritizes partisan fairness. Most of them have been created as a reaction to partisan excesses as opposed to crafting actual good government reforms. It's still preferable to legislatures that are only interested in maximizing partisan gain and protecting incumbents. That's why it's essential for Congress to establish standards for the entire country (or consider moving away from single-member districts, but I won't hold my breath there). I think another big problem is that districts now are too large and unwieldy, with some states having districts with well over 800k people now.
