Posted on 07/08/2003 1:19:06 AM PDT by Diddle E. Squat
AUSTIN -- Democrats vainly battled against inevitable defeat as the Texas House approved a Republican redistricting plan early today that likely would eliminate six incumbent Democratic congressmen in next year's elections.
"We are all tired, and some of us have been beaten up and bruised in this process," Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, D-San Antonio, told the House as debate began on the measure Monday afternoon.
Democrats argued that the public had no meaningful input into drawing the maps and that the proposed congressional districts would harm rural representation and dilute minority voting rights.
But with Republicans holding a substantial House majority, passage of the partisan measure appeared likely from the moment the mostly somber debate started. Republican lawmakers rarely bothered to counter Democratic arguments, and the House officially approved the bill at 12:03 a.m. today on an 83-62 vote.
Five Republicans voted against the measure and two Democrats, Reps. Ron Wilson of Houston and Vilma Luna of Corpus Christi, voted for it.
"It's a fair map. It's been an open process," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford. "Race had nothing to do with the drawing of the district lines. Our purpose was purely political."
The Democrats admitted they fought not so much in hopes of stopping the bill in the House but to help build a federal court case if redistricting passes the Legislature.
The legislation now heads to the state Senate, where its fate is less certain.
A two-thirds vote by those present in the 31-member Senate is required to bring a bill up for debate, and Democrats hold 12 Senate seats. At present, three swing Democrats and one Republican have said they are unsure how they will vote on any congressional redistricting bill.
House Democratic Caucus Chairman Jim Dunnam of Waco said he is worried that a moderate redistricting map bill will be presented to the Senate to win Democratic votes for debate.
But he said any Democratic vote for debate on redistricting "would just let the genie out of the bottle," allowing Republicans to create a more partisan map in floor debate or through a conference committee.
"Anyone who votes to suspend is culpable for the final bill," Dunnam said.
House Democrats killed a redistricting bill in May by staging a four-day walkout during the regular session. Gov. Rick Perry called the current special legislative session on redistricting after consulting with U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land.
Democrats currently hold a 17-15 majority in the state's congressional delegation, but the Republican measure likely would result in a 21-11 GOP majority after the 2004 elections.
Democratic incumbents who likely would lose their seats include U.S. Reps. Max Sandlin of Marshall, Jim Turner of Crockett, Ralph Hall of Rockwall, Nick Lampson of Beaumont, Chet Edwards of Waco and Charles Stenholm of Abilene.
As King began his argument for the new congressional boundaries Monday afternoon, about 30 Democrats in the gallery donned white socks as hand puppets to mock King. Every time he spoke, the little white mouths flapped.
The House voted down an amendment by state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, that would have turned the Republican redistricting bill on its head.
Thompson's amendment would have moved six Republican incumbents' residences into districts held by Democrats, including a provision to put DeLay's home into a proposed 64 percent black and Hispanic 18th District along with district incumbent U.S. Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee, D-Houston.
"I don't think Tom DeLay's going to have a problem running against Shelia Jackson Lee," Thompson said, adding that her map "helps out the minorities and does not dilute the Anglo voting strength."
At one point, McClendon, a member of the House Redistricting Committee, offered the current congressional boundaries as a substitute to King's map.
"This plan protects the choices made by voters," McClendon said.
King asked the House to reject the amendment, saying the current districts are based on a 1991 Democratic redistricting plan that he called "the shrewdest gerrymander" in the nation that year.
The House voted against adopting the current districts on an 83-59 vote, with six members absent and two not voting. Wilson was the only Democrat present to vote against retaining the current districts.
Wilson has said he supports the Republican map because it increases the possibility that a black politician could win election in District 25, now held by U.S. Rep. Chris Bell, D-Houston. Wilson has said he does not plan to run for Congress.
Speaker Pro Tem Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, a candidate for mayor, voted against the Republican redistricting proposal because he thinks the process is unnecessary and expensive for taxpayers. Turner said he also thought the Republican proposal is bad for Houston.
At a news conference before the debate, McClendon said the Republicans, driven by DeLay, worked in secret to produce a map that harms rural interests and minorities. She said "bait and switch" tactics were used to produce three different maps last week, with the sponsors working in a room with newspaper taped over the glass door.
Republicans argued that the map is fair to Republicans and does no harm to minorities. DeLay has said Republicans should have a congressional delegation majority because they control every statewide office and a majority in the Legislature.
Republicans also said it is the Legislature's duty to redistrict because it failed to do so in 2001, resulting in the current districts being drawn by a three-judge federal court.
King said there were plenty of public hearings on redistricting. He said he only covered the door because he wanted to draw the map in private with advisers using a wall projector.
"You don't want people standing at the door, looking in and reporters trying to see what they're drawing. You just want some privacy," King said.
They would. The comparisons are utterly rediculous, however. Apparently there is no shame in Austin for the Democrats.
Screw them
I know The Honorable Ralph Hall #5 District personally. Ralph is right at 80 years old, and ready to hang it up.
Meanwhile, Ratcliff is starting to sound like a rino.
Ralph Hall is a Dino, I guess, based on his voting record per the ACU.
He's more of a Republican than most Republicans, I think.
His son Brett is a District Judge and a Republican, but nobody better tangle with Pete Sessions who is also a remarkable guy.
Conversion from AT&T to Comcast messed up the URL. I replaced it and here is that pic !
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