Posted on 10/13/2010 10:42:02 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch
HARLINGEN - U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa says he and other South Texas business and political leaders will hire redistricting experts and attorneys to help the region gain an extra congressional seat next year.
“We did it the last time and we are going to do it again. We are going to invest in legal advice with attorneys, map drawers, everybody, because this region is one of the fastest growing regions in the country and we deserve to have another member of Congress,” the Mercedes Democrat told the Guardian.
New congressional lines will be drawn by state legislators next year soon after the U.S. Census Bureau announces the population count for 2010. Many redistricting experts believe Texas will gain four additional congressional seats because of its population growth over the last ten years.
The political stakes are high because every congressional district gets hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal government. According to state Reps. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, and Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City, Republican leaders in Corpus Christi, Austin, and Washington, D.C., are planning to draw a new congressional seat anchored in Nueces County. The seat would be split from the Rio Grande Valley, the lawmakers say.
Currently, U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz represents District 27, which runs from Corpus Christi to Brownsville. According to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, Ortiz told its editorial board that Corpus Christi “appears likely to be carved into a district pointing north, severed from the Valley.”
If this happens, the Valley can kiss goodbye to a new congressional seat. Congressman Hinojosa is determined to make sure that does not happen. Not only would Ortiz’s district be disfigured, Hinojosa would likely lose Harlingen, the Mid Valley, the Delta and PSJA.
State Sen. Juan Hinojosa represents Corpus Christi and most of McAllen in the state Senate. He recently told the Guardian he wants to see one of the new congressional seats anchored in the McAllen-Mission area. Hinojosa recently told the Guardian that splitting Corpus Christi from Brownsville would fall foul of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which protects the rights of minorities.
“If you take Nueces County out of District 27 and pick up voters in Hidalgo County it will cause packing and that is prohibited under the Voting Rights Act. There will be too many Hispanics in the district,” Sen. Hinojosa said.
Though Republicans have the upper hand in Austin right now, Sen. Hinojosa said the Valley still has a good chance of being awarded one of the new congressional seats. About 65 percent of the population growth in Texas over the past decade is due to Hispanics, Hinojosa argued. Therefore, two of the three or four new congressional seats should be Hispanic-opportunity.
Many redistricting experts believe Dallas can make the best case for a new Hispanic-opportunity district because its population growth has been incredible over the past ten years. Currently, there are no Hispanic-opportunity districts in the Dallas region.
If one of the Hispanic-opportunity districts goes to Dallas, where should a second be placed? State Rep. Armando “Mando” Martinez, D-Weslaco, says it should be anchored in the Valley. He points out that is hard to create such a district in Houston without negatively impacting the district currently represented by U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston. As an African-American representing a large number of minority voters, Jackson-Lee would argue her district is protected under the Voting Rights Act.
The other possibilities for a Hispanic-opportunity district are the Valley and the San Antonio-Austin corridor. “I am not sure there are enough Hispanics along I-35 to create a Hispanic-opportunity district between Austin and San Antonio,” Martinez told the Guardian. “The logical place to create another Hispanic district is to anchor it in the Valley, going north.”
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, said he told his congressional colleagues to think about hiring redistricting experts over a year ago.
“I said, guys, we need to start hiring attorneys, we need to start hiring experts and we have got to make sure that we look at how redistricting will impact the overall state, not just our own districts,” Cuellar told the Guardian.
Cuellar said if Texas does get four new congressional seats a very good case could be made for three of the four being Hispanic opportunity.
“At a minimum, I want to make sure that two out of the four are Hispanic. If the attorneys go to court and fight for three, that is even better. We can talk about where to put them once the Census numbers come out. I hope we can pull together as a team,” Cuellar said.
Cuellar said he would not want to give up on Houston gaining a Hispanic-opportunity district just yet. “Dallas, no ifs or buts, deserves a new Hispanic district. But, let us look at the final numbers before we decide where to put the others.”
U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa says he will hire attorneys to help ensure the Rio Grande Valley gains an extra congressional seat during redistricting next year. If he succeeds, U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz’s district would largely be kept intact and U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar's district would likely move out of Hidalgo County.
Of course there should be no federal money going anywhere.
Let’s make sure all the illegals have their own congresscritter. /s
If we wanted redistricting to be fair we’d:
1) deport all illegals - or get them off the voting population rolls;
2) program a computer to produce the most compact, contiguous geographical divisions.
No more gerrymandered “minority” districts. No more gerrymandered political advantage for either party.
“We will hire attorneys”! he knows that with a Republican Governor and a Republican Legislature he can’t get what he wants, so he will go to court to get “gerrymander districts” drawn to ensure minority/Democrat representation. The lines of these districts sometimes bob and weave throughout the state to avoid white populations and include minority populations.They did this in 2000 to some success and they will try it again using the courst with the charge of “racism” on the part of the legislature.
Ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
As I said yesterday, I believe that Hidalgo County, Brownsville, Corpus Christi and Laredo should have their own congressional districts within their spheres of influence.
If he can prove that increase in population are legal citizens I say fine. Yet counting illegal, jackalopes an roadrunners doesnt count .......
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