Obama back in political fray with Democratic fundraiser

Barack Obama headlines a key Democratic fundraiser today in one of his first major appearances for the party since Donald Trump succeeded him as US president in January.
Obama will attend a fundraiser for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC) at a private home in the US capital Washington.
The event, which is closed to the press, aims to raise money to fund the coming electoral battles next year in a bid to control the redistricting effort that is scheduled to take place after the 2020 census.
How districts are drawn -- and redrawn -- has a big impact on the political landscape, making the process extremely important to the fortunes of American political parties.

The 435 congressional districts that elect lawmakers to the US House of Representatives are redrawn every 10 years following the national census.
Local legislatures, and not the federal government or the US Congress, redraw these boundaries.

Republicans currently control the legislatures in 32 of the nation's 50 states.
"Restoring fairness to our democracy by advocating for fairer, more inclusive district maps around the country is a priority for president Obama," his spokesman Kevin Lewis said in a statement.
The NDRC was created this January, and is headed by Obama-era US attorney general Eric Holder.
Republicans have held a House majority since the 2010 elections.

Obama, 55, has kept a relatively low political profile since leaving the White House on January 20.
After three months of vacation, he attended a conference in Chicago in April to discuss his youth-oriented foundation.
Beyond a few press statements or tweets on topics like health care or immigration, he has avoided directly commenting on the performance of his Republican successor Trump -- unlike Trump's 2016 election rival Hillary Clinton, who regularly offers criticism.