Texas redistricting

ryan_98 · Apr 14, 2011

Here we go again it seems. It's not likely that the Ds will flee to Oklahoma this time around, but it does look as if there will be fights over this for some time.

http://blogs.star-telegram.com/poli...-house-redistricting-map-from-both-sides.html

State Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, had no complaints about his own district but said there should have been four majority minority districts drawn in Tarrant County instead of the three. Based on initial reactions from other House Democrats, Burman said the plan may have difficulty getting support.

Veronica Gonzales, D-McAllen, who said her redrawn district would now have her representing a completely different set of cities in South Texas because the redrawn map rewards State Rep. Aaron, R-Edinburg, for switching parties. She said she believes her redrawn district is a potential violation of the Voting Rights Act.

West of Tarrant, Weatherford Republican Phil King’s district retains Parker County and gains Hood County. That suits King fine. He noted in an email that the two counties are "demographically and economically very similar."

But King was not pleased to see Wise County taken out of his district and put in one that stretches into West Texas.

"It will be very difficult for a state representative to effectively represent a district that runs essentially from [Fort Worth] to Lubbock," King said. "It’s almost three hundred miles end to end."
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7520858.html

Due to the relative lack of growth in Harris County, the county would go from having 25 seats to 24. The lack of growth also means that two Houston incumbents, Democratic Reps. Scott Hochberg and Hubert Vo, will be paired.

The statewide map creates one new Latino district, maintains the current number of black opportunity districts and pairs 16 incumbents in districts where they would face one of their colleagues in the 2012 elections.

State Rep. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston said the Harris County delegation should stand firm on maintaining its current number of seats.

"I believe that there is a major deficiency in taking Harris County down from 25 districts to 24 districts," she said. "I believe that unlike other counties in Texas which have seen drastic loss, Harris County's population did not significantly desert our county, they shifted from the east to the west. It is important that Harris County be able to maintain its 25 house districts in order to best represent our constituents."

Karen Loper, Vo's chief of staff, said her boss saw trouble ahead in the proposed pairing with his Houston colleague who represents a neighboring district.

"We certainly have a great concern about combining two districts that are Voting Rights districts," she said. "On the face of it, it looks like it would be a violation."

Loper noted that both districts are an amalgamation of minority populations, including Hispanics, Asians and African-Americans, but their combined strength would be dissipated. "The Asian population goes down because they're scattered among several districts, and so do Hispanics," she said.
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Texas redistricting

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