I was actually expecting worse. I thought the court would protect all incumbents and then split the two new districts between the parties. 15-17 is a lot better than 14-18, which is how Davis's final plan was drawn. It looks to me like the he court actually acted responsibly instead of using judicial activism to help either party. I think the jduges should be commended for coming up with a unanimous decision.
I am very curious though, does anybody know the details of how Chet Edwards seat is changed. He is now in a seat that went for Bush by about 40 points in 2000. He won reelection with about 55% of the vote. He can be beaten if there are many changes at all made to his seat. And that would make it 16-16.
Edwards prevails by pretending to be a conservative and has constituents who don't know how he votes. Using the 1998 comptroller race standard (which was the closest race in the last two cycles), Edwards' district went from 51.5-48.5 GOP to 53-47 GOP. A minor change, but maybe enough for a good candidate to run against him.
I was hoping Arlene Wohlgemuth would run, but she has been drawn into Joe Barton's district. Two good candidates would be David Sibley or Susannah Gratia Hupp.
For those not familiar with Texas, Ms. Hupp is the anti-Carolyn McCarthy. After being in the Luby's attack, she understands that our best protection is an armed citizenry and not gun grabbing.