Ratliff Sides with Democrats on Redistricting (The-Terrific-Texan-Special-Session)

Austin American Statesman ^ | July 14, 2003 | Ken Herman and Laylan Copelin

[Pubbie]

Republican ally gives Democrats enough votes to keep any map from Senate floor

By Ken Herman and Laylan Copelin

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Monday, July 14, 2003

Texas Republicans' effort to draw new congressional districts took a direct, potentially fatal hit on Monday from one of their own.

Sen. Bill Ratliff, R-Mt. Pleasant, announced he has signed on with 10 Democrats who have said they will vote to keep any redistricting map from the Senate floor.

It takes 21 votes in the 31-member Senate to bring any legislation to the floor for action. Eleven senators can block any action.

Ratliff, who opposes the redistricting effort and does not like the way a House-approved version splits his constituents, said he has told Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst that he is siding with the Democrats in their "unalterable opposition to any motion to bring a congressional redistricting bill to the Senate floor."

Dewhurst, facing the prospect of the redistricting bill dying in his chamber, on Monday said he would consider skirting the Senate tradition—which dates back to the 1950s and is considered sacred by some—of requiring a two-thirds vote to bring a map to the floor.

The GOP holds a 19-12 edge in the Senate, guaranteeing it would prevail on any measure that gets to the floor.

There are several ways to get around the two-thirds tradition. All could be accomplished at Dewhurst's say-so.

"I think that at this point in the process, where the House has already passed a map and we've already gone in and taken testimony throughout the state, that if that were to happen I'd have to consider all of our options," Dewhurst said of the possibility of not getting the 21 votes needed for floor action on redistricting.

Dewhurst spent time behind closed doors on Monday with Ratliff, who said any move to slalom around the two-thirds provision would be "the most serious mistake (Dewhurst) could make."

Ratliff also said the redistricting process is tearing at the legislature's bipartisan tradition.

"I will not be a part of the destruction of that spirit for the sake of a theoretical marginal partisan gain in the Texas congressional delegation," he said.

Dewhurst said he went into the special session with assurances from 21 senators that they would support "a good and fair map."

Republicans, who hold statewide offices and majorities in the House and Senate, have only 15 of the 32 U.S. House seats.

"I think we're fairly down in the process," Dewhurst said when asked about skirting the two-thirds rule. "The House has passed a bill. We've taken extremely laborious and careful testimony from the public around the state of Texas. We've been working on drawing a map and I think that if we find that some of our members have changed their minds I think it's incumbent that we look at all of our options."

The only two Democrats who did not sign the letter of "unalterable opposition" to consideration of a redistricting plan were Sens. Ken Armbrister, D-Victoria, and Frank Madla, D-San Antonio.

Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, D-Austin, said, "I feel secure at this point that there will be 11 — at least."

[Tex_GOP_Cruz]

DemocRATliff is officially the biggest RINO in the Lone Star State.

On a slightly unrelated note, I went through each name on the record vote for July 8th's passage of HB3 (the redistricting bill) in the state House to get a list of the bad Republicans and not-entirely-bad Democrats there. Here it is for the record:

DEMOCRATS VOTING YEA:
Luna, Vilma (D-Corpus Christi)
Wilson, Ron (D-Houston)

RINOs VOTING NAY:
Hamilton, Mike “Tuffy” (R-Mauriceville)
Hughes, Bryan (R-Mineola)
Hunter, Bob (R-Abilene)
Jones, Delwin (R-Lubbock)
Miller, Sid (R-Stephenville)

DID NOT VOTE:
Craddick, Tom (R-Midland)(not voting, as is prerogative of Speaker)
Merritt, Tommy (R-Longview){present and not voting)
Oliveira, Rene (D-Brownsville)(absent, excused)
Solis, Jim (D-Harlingen)(absent, excused)
Wolens, Steve (D-Dallas)(absent, excused)

Thus the vote was 83 yeas (88 Republicans - the five RINOs + the two Dems - the two present and not voting = 83) and 62 nays (62 Dems + 5 - 2 - 3 excused absences = 62). I'm guessing "excused" means they weren't in Ardmore.

[jf55510]

RINOs VOTING NAY:
Hamilton, Mike “Tuffy” (R-Mauriceville)
Hughes, Bryan (R-Mineola)
Hunter, Bob (R-Abilene)
Jones, Delwin (R-Lubbock)
Miller, Sid (R-Stephenville)

You are using RINO very liberally here. I personally know Representative Hughes and he is no RINO. Same with Sid Miller and Delwin Jones. People are not elected to represent the party, but to represent their constitutients and what is best for them. In Rep. Hughes case, the majority of his constituients in his district would have been represented by someone from Dallas. He got on the floor of the House and said he wanted to vote for redistricting but could not because it was bad for his district. The difference between Rep. Hughes and Sen. Ratliff is that Ratliff is a true RINO. He proudly says the only reason he is a Republican is because he votes Republican 51% of the time. Just because someone voted against redistricting, that doesn't make the a democrat lapdog.

[jf55510]

Don't know why he calls himself a Republican, for he typically votes with the left.

He calls himself a Republican because he votes with Republicans 51% of the time. That was his explanation at least.

[Gracey]

Good point. On some issues, I bet it's difficult to figure it is's D or R. He He. Miss seeing you. Come to our picnic on Saturday.

[Gracey]

Good point. On some issues, I bet it's difficult to figure it is's D or R. He He. Miss seeing you. Come to our picnic on Saturday.

[Tex_GOP_Cruz]

I remember a quote where Ratliff said he was only 51% Republican.

Here's that quote and a couple others from a July 4, 2002, Houston Comical article about RATliff not running for Lite Guv:

FIRST QUOTE:
Yet he [Ratliff] also angered party leaders, who have questioned his commitment as a conservative Republican. Ratliff has said he considers himself a Republican "at least 51 percent of the time."

SECOND QUOTE:
The state GOP keeps a stiff upper lip when asked about Ratliff's relationship with the party.

"I don't think that Lt. Gov. Ratliff ever set out to build a political career based on ambition for higher office," said party spokesman Ted Royer. "He has primarily been concerned with following his personal philosophy before anything else. I don't think he ever intended to get into politics because of personal ambition.

"From the party's perspective, we would always like to see everyone be more Republican."

THIRD QUOTE:
As a member of the Legislative Redistricting Board, Ratliff sided with Democratic House Speaker Pete Laney in voting against a plan supported by Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander, Attorney General John Cornyn and Land Commissioner David Dewhurst, all Republicans. Ratliff and Laney lost.

[goldstategop]

I expect Ratliff to switch any day to the Democrats. As the old joke has it, what's the difference between a Rat and a RINO? The Rats cross the road, the RINOs dwaddle across it.

[Tex_GOP_Cruz]

You are using RINO very liberally here.
Yes, you're right; I threw out the term without considering that there might have been a few cases where constituent considerations outweighed partisan ones. Sorry about that.

The difference between Rep. Hughes and Sen. Ratliff is that Ratliff is a true RINO.
Agreed. In the future, I'll try to reserve the term for the true RINOs. I did want to get the roll call list out though so that other TX FReepers could see which Republicans opposed it, for whatever reason. Thank you for the clarification.

[MeekOneGOP]

Here is The Dallas Morning News version of this story:

Ratliff joins Democrats to oppose redistricting

Republican's move could keep Senate from taking up issue

07/15/2003

By ROBERT T. GARRETT and GROMER JEFFERS Jr. / The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN – A key Republican senator joined with Democrats trying to kill congressional redistricting Monday even as Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst scrambled for support to keep the issue alive.

Sen. Bill Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant, said proceeding with redistricting would ignite "a vitriolic battle," destroying the Legislature's traditions of bipartisanship and cooperation.

Mr. Dewhurst said lawmakers are "fairly far down in the process" of producing a new congressional map. The GOP lieutenant governor said he would consider abandoning a Senate tradition – requiring a two-thirds vote to take up any measure – if he thinks a majority can agree on a redistricting plan.

"I'll consider all of our options," Mr. Dewhurst said.

If he observes the two-thirds rule, as he had said before Monday he was inclined to do, then opposition from Mr. Ratliff and 10 Democratic senators would kill redistricting.

Although Mr. Dewhurst said Monday's development could prove merely "a bump in the road," Mr. Ratliff at a minimum complicated the redistricting effort, the main reason Gov. Rick Perry called the current special session.

Also Online

	Video: Shelley Kofler reports
	Maps: • Current Texas Congressional districts • Proposed Texas Congressional districts
	Special Session: Redistricting hearing schedule, summary, maps (from the Texas Legislative Council)
	More Politics

Mr. Ratliff said he joined 10 Democratic senators signing a letter to Mr. Dewhurst stating "unalterable opposition" to bringing up a redistricting map on the Senate floor.

"I don't believe that even a good product of this process justifies the pain, the blood, the sweat, the tears that are going to be necessary in the Senate to get there," Mr. Ratliff said.

He said many of his colleagues "feel that they're going to have to fall on a sword in order to do this, and they're going to suffer from it. ... I don't see any reason to do that."

Democrats hailed Mr. Ratliff. "Once again, Senator Ratliff has demonstrated tremendous courage and character as a public servant," said Sen. Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio, chairwoman of the Senate Democratic Caucus.

The state Republican Party was quick to point out that the rule has been abandoned on occasion – such as when the Senate took up a state senatorial redistricting plan in 1992.

Mr. Perry and House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, meanwhile, kept pressuring Mr. Dewhurst for Senate approval of a new congressional map.

"I believe we must give the lieutenant governor the time to sort out his options on the issue for which the session was called," Mr. Perry said.

Bob Richter, a spokesman for Mr. Craddick, said the speaker "still feels like it [redistricting] can be done. He doesn't feel like it's finished."

Mr. Dewhurst said Mr. Ratliff previously told him he'd wait until the Senate Jurisprudence Committee produced a map before deciding whether to support a floor debate on redistricting.

"I think even Senator Ratliff had said several times to you all in the press that he would withhold judgment until a plan came out," Mr. Dewhurst said. "Well, no plan has come out yet. ... He's always assured me that he would wait and withhold judgment until he saw a map and that he would be flexible."

Mr. Ratliff said he had not reneged on a pledge to wait.

"I said I would consider. I did consider," Mr. Ratliff said.

Mr. Ratliff said that if Mr. Dewhurst throws out the two-thirds rule for taking up measures on the Senate floor, "it would be a serious mistake – maybe the most serious mistake he could make."

Mr. Ratliff, who is among the Senate's most senior Republican members and served as lieutenant governor after Gov. George W. Bush became president, warned that the Legislature could turn into "a truly completely partisan operation."

"That rule is the reason why the Texas Legislature has been known for decades as being a place where the two parties can work together," Mr. Ratliff said.

Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, D-Austin, said the letter to Mr. Dewhurst opposing the redistricting debate was drafted over the weekend.

"This is to advise you that the undersigned members of the Texas Senate are unalterably opposed to the Senate's consideration of a congressional redistricting bill during the 78th Legislature," the letter said. "We will oppose any motion to bring such a redistricting bill to the Senate floor for debate."

Mr. Barrientos said that means those signing will resist taking up redistricting until at least January 2005, when lawmakers return for the next regular session.

Only senators Kenneth Armbrister of Victoria and Frank Madla of San Antonio didn't join their Democratic colleagues and Mr. Ratliff in signing the letter. They have previously said they are undecided on redistricting.

E-mail rtgarrett@dallasnews.com or gjeffers@dallasnews.com

---

Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/071503dntexredist.4de84.html

[Redbob]

Ratliff is a worn-out old pol, who's mad that he wasn't chosen to be Perry's running-mate in the last election.

He feels he should have Dewhurst's job, so he's determined to make him look as bad as he can.

[MeekOneGOP]

Dewhurst, facing the prospect of the redistricting bill dying in his chamber, on Monday said he would consider skirting the Senate tradition—which dates back to the 1950s and is considered sacred by some—of requiring a two-thirds vote to bring a map to the floor.

Interesting. According to The Dallas Morning News (in post #49):

The state Republican Party was quick to point out that the rule has been abandoned on occasion – such as when the Senate took up a state senatorial redistricting plan in 1992.

Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Texas ping list!. . .don't be shy.
No, you don't HAVE to be a Texan to get on this list!

[mathluv]

Ratliff is the reason it did not get done in the first place. He needs to go!

[mathluv]

I just called his office in Mt. Pleasant. 903-572-1887 He does not have email. The lady was nice, but I did let her know that I thought he was siding with the dims. She said he was supporting NE TX.

[mathluv]

As acting Lt Gov, Ratliff is the reason it went to the courts in2001. He had a primary fight last time over this, and won. Hopefully, that won't be repeated.

[mathluv]

http://www.texasgop.org/ I downloaded a PDF copy of the map. He would no longer be my state senator if it passes.

[deport]

He would no longer be my state senator if it passes.

---

How is the Congressional redistricting going to change who is your State Senator?

[mathluv]

I don't know what I was thinking. You are right. Just wishful on my part.

[Impy]

Who was the real Republican choice for LT Gov.?

[Dog Gone]

Dewhurst was. The only problem with Dewhurst is that he's more interested in doing what's good for Dewhurst than anything else.

DeLay and Perry have made it easy for him, though. Get redistricting done, or your political career is over.

[writmeister]

The other GOP senators voted for David Sibley, who did not run for reelection. Sibley was a fairly strong conservative with close ties to President Bush.