Letter to Dewhurst Will Air West Texas' Opposition to Congressional Redistricting

Lubbock, TX, Avalanche-Journal ^ | 07-17-03 | Fuquay, John

[Theodore R.]

Letter will air area stand on redistricting By JOHN FUQUAY AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Representatives from seven area cities are expected to send a letter to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst today expressing their desire for West Texas congressional districts to remain unchanged.

The action comes a day after a stormy redistricting session in the Senate, where one member abruptly walked out of a committee meeting where members were drafting a map of congressional districts.

The letter to Dewhurst reiterates the position that mayors and chamber representatives expressed to him during a private meeting Monday in Austin.

Lubbock Chamber of Commerce President Eddie McBride said Wednesday he was sending the letter to officials in Abilene, San Angelo, Big Spring, Colorado City, Lamesa and Brownwood.

"They haven't all signed off on it yet, but I know they support the effort," McBride said.

The two-page letter says the cities "are united in our belief that the current congressional districts in West Texas meet our needs and should not be changed."

"... We want our voices heard in Washington, D.C., as well as Austin, and these voices should not be discounted. ... Our position, shared by a clear majority of West Texans, and many other Texans, has been represented time and time again by members of these communities.

"We feel this shared outcry represents people — on both sides of the political spectrum — who want to be included in this process. To exclude our position, our voices and concerns, is not right."

McBride said he expects Dewhurst to receive the letter by this afternoon.

On Wednesday, Sen. Chris Harris, R-Arlington, walked out of a meeting of the Senate Jurisprudence Committee where members were drafting a map of congressional districts.

"I'm out of the map-drawing business. Senator Staples now has that business," Harris said.

Sen. Todd Staples, R-Palestine, also a member of the Jurisprudence Committee charged with handling redistricting in the special legislative session, had planned to present another map at the committee meeting Wednesday night. But, when the committee reconvened, he said the map was not ready and he hoped to have it perfected in time for a 9 a.m. meeting today.

"I want to make certain that the map I do lay out is a map the committee can vote on," said Staples, also the chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus.

Earlier Wednesday, Harris, claiming his maps were drawn by the Attorney General's Office, said a "computer glitch" had rendered them unable to stand up to court scrutiny.

"I am withdrawing any consideration and any discussion of the two ... plans I have been given by the AG," Harris said before abruptly leaving the Capitol auditorium.

Attorney General Greg Abbott said his office only assisted the Senate in determining legality of various maps.

"Any statement implying that the Office of Attorney General conceived a redistricting plan or maps is false," Abbott said. "The Office of the At torney General is not — and has not been — in the map-drawing business, and we have not formulated any redistricting plans. Any statement or suggestion to the contrary is simply untrue."

At least one Democrat appeared incredulous at Harris' action.

"When the major map maker says he's out of the mapmaking business, it leaves us in total chaos," said committee member Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas.

Sen. Robert Duncan, the Lubbock Republican who chairs the Jurisprudence Committee, disagreed.

"No, the process is not in chaos," Duncan said. "The process is working."

Gov. Rick Perry said he's still hopeful that congressional districts will be redrawn.

"The will is still there to continue to be working with these members," Perry said. "I've got faith they'll get a product."

State Rep. Delwin Jones, R-Lub bock, said a fellow House member on Tuesday speculated that the Senate may adjourn without voting on redistricting, although it's a possibility that hasn't gained much traction in Austin.

"If they should do that, that will be satisfactory to the people of West Texas it seems to me," Jones said.

Jones, who voted against the House's redistricting proposal, said he feels that in light of recent budget cuts, the public doesn't want money spent on an additional special session on redistricting.

"There's not a mandate to do redistricting right now other than the governor's desire to get it done," Jones said.

(The Associated Press and staff writer Brian Williams contributed to this report).

[Theodore R.]

I changed the original headline from "Stand on" to "Opposition to" to be more exact.

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[WestPacSailor]

Ahhh, Gerrymandering, helping the unelectable get elected since 1812!

Does it suprise anyone that this phrase was coined in Massachusetts?

[ken5050]

I saw something here a few days ago about how in 1980 the Dems suspended the rulem in the Senate that calls for 2/3's needed to bring up a bill?..have you seen anything more on this..regards..

[Theodore R.]

Yes, Democrats "suspend rules," but Republicans are a stickler for details unless Dewhurst gets up the nerve to bring forth a sensible redistricting plan. Dewhurst gives mixed signals. Sometimes, he seems to indicate that a plan is certain, but he has said that he "does not see the need" or some such terminology to suspend the rules. Democrats "suspend rules" when it is in their interest to do so. It's "for the people," they say.

[Theodore R.]

Well, was Elbridge Gerry just strengthening his Democratic-Republican party in MA to obtain "fairness," or was he fighting the evil Federalists? The next year Gerry became Madison's second vice president. Madison has the distinction of being the only president, BOTH of whose vice presidents died in office.

[Theodore R.]

The West Texas opposition to redistricting is a reflection of the desire to keep Abilene's popular long-term Charles Stenholm in Congress. He is the ranking Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, and farmers in West TX may or may not be hooked on subsidies that Stenholm can help to deliver for them. Does anyone know who is the new chairman of the Agriculture Comm. since Larry Combest left Congress on May 31? It is not really a partisan issue in West TX. I don't things look too good for the GOP position unless Dewhurt scraps the 2/3 rule. That's his only weapon remaining, it seems to me.

[barkeep]

Monday Dewhurst held a meeting with community leaders from all over West Texas in the capitol complex. Craddick prevented those invited from Midland from attending. Most of those there opposed the House plan. Most also agreed we had gotten the short end of the stick with the judicial panel's map. At one point Dewhurst asked straight out how many there opposed the House plan because they wanted to keep Stenholm, and not a hand went up.

I know there are a lot of ranch/farm voters who will split a Republican ticket for Charlie, but numerically they are not that significant. We have worked our butts off out here and come damned close to busting Charlie out twice now, Izzard in '94 and Beckham last time.

One fly in the ointment is that Craddick has finally made it clear he will settle for nothing less than a Midland Congressman, and I don't think he gives a tinker's damn what the rest of West Texas wants or what happens to us under his map. One "compromise" quietly mentioned from his camp was that if we didn't like pairing San Angelo with Midland, we could pair Midland with Abilene and San Angelo with Lubbock! Now that's a couple of geographically compact districts. Not to mention you could hear the Abileners' teeth start to grind at that idea.

I have proposed that the same energy we are spending on redistricting and alienating voters in the process, could be applied to winning the five seats now held by Dems in Republican majority districts. The flip side of that is that a majority district is NOT an automatic Congressman. If we win redistricting, but do it ugly enough to turn off the voters, we could end up with TEN dems in Republican majority districts. Yes, the common voter is starting to notice, they may not fully understand the process, but the "waste of money, something stinks" feedback is starting to come in.

[SwinneySwitch]

Damn the 2/3 Rule, full speed ahead!

You can e-mail Lt. Gov. Dewhurst @

http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/ltgov/Contact.htm

[Theodore R.]

It could also be that die-hard supporters of the hugely popular Stenholm would not admit that saving Stenholm is a primary motivation of their opposition to the House-passed plan. These could all be stealth "Texas Democrats" committed to Stenholm. What district would Midland fit in if it is independent of both Lubbock and Abilene?

[barkeep]

It could also be that that pigs have learned to fly and that's why we all carry steel umbrellas. I am talking about people I personally know, people who worked against Stenholm in several campaigns, twice coming close to success. Actually the West Texas districts are good now. Craddick does not want to be tied to Lubbock any longer because their guy just aced his guy in the runoff for Combest's seat by 500 votes and Craddick thinks if Midland goes with either Abilene or San Angelo they will have the votes (and they will) to put a Midland candidate on the ballot. There are a lot of reasons good honest West Texas Republicans can oppose the House plan and still oppose Stenholm, whose "overwhelming popularity" is hardly as bulletproof as you seem to think. If the Senate can come up with a redistricting plan THIS session that does not rip asunder West Texas, we are all for it, but you can take this to the bank, any Craddick plan will have Midland Congressman as its centerpiece and the rest of West Texas can go jump. In that respect his plan is not so much about more Republican Congressmen as it is about HIS Republican Congressman.

[Theodore R.]

Stenholm is popular because he always wins. Surely, there were some close scrapes, but even JFK didn't win by much "popular-wise" in 1960. And nearly everybody thinks JFK is "popular." Wasn't he recently voted among the one or two most "admired" Presidents? Stenholm has been there since the middle 1970s, and he is not considering retirement to my knowledge. That means, in the words of his chief, Jimmuh Carter, he does "not intend to lose."