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In the early 1800’s, a Massachusetts Governor by the name of Elbridge Gerry conceived a novel plan to increase his party’s share of that state’s legislative districts.  He would simply redraw the map.  By redrawing the boundaries of the districts in such a way as to more effectively distribute friendly voters as well as break up pockets of opposition, he enabled his party to constitute a majority of voters in more districts.  The result was, for those days, an unusual looking map.

Upon viewing the new map, one observer commented that one of the more oddly shaped districts looked like a salamander and it was promptly dubbed “the gerrymander” in honor of its creator.  Ever since, the term “gerrymandering” has come to describe the process of drawing election district maps for the purposes of partisan gain.