they say, well, sure, the state legislature may be gerrymandered, but you can’t gerrymander the governor’s race.
but you can strip a governor the legislature dislikes of power, and thereby ensure that the only way a governor can succeed is if she’s of the gerrymandered legislature’s party.
the public gets this and votes accordingly. then, of course, the party ID of the governor legitimates the gerrymander of the legislature.