Posted on 07/04/2003 8:05:22 AM PDT by Dog Gone
AUSTIN -- The sponsor of a Republican congressional redistricting plan said Thursday he had eliminated potential federal Voting Rights Act violations by restoring a district held by Dallas Democrat Martin Frost.
State Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, said that by keeping Frost's district intact as it was approved by a federal court in 2001, he was able to offset potential voting rights concerns he had about how he had redrawn the 18th and 25th districts in Houston.
Frost's would remain a "minority-influence" district, meaning it contains enough black and Hispanic voters that they can influence election outcomes.
Both versions of King's map slightly reduced the black population in the 18th, represented by Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, and increased the minority population in the 25th, represented by Chris Bell, D-Houston.
The federal Voting Rights Act protects minorities from having the power of their vote diminished, either by packing voters into a single district or splitting them into districts where their numbers are too low for them to have political influence.
King earlier this week had introduced a map to allow Republicans to make major gains in next year's elections. But he surprised the House Redistricting Committee Wednesday by withdrawing the map, citing the potential Voting Rights Act violations in Houston and Dallas.
The map he introduced Thursday was almost identical to his earlier map, except that it restored Frost's district, the 24th, and made it impossible for U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall, D-Rockwall, to win re-election in the 4th District.
"There's nothing else I intend to change," King said. "I've listened to all the testimony and made all the changes I intend to make. I think this is the map we ought to get out."
Gov. Rick Perry called a special legislative on congressional redistricting at the urging of U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land. Republicans contend that because they hold all statewide offices and control both chambers of the Legislature, they should hold a majority of the state's 32 congressional seats.
Democrats now have a 17-15 majority in the Texas delegation.
A redistricting bill was killed in last spring's regular session when more than 50 Democrats fled the Capitol, breaking the House quorum to make debate on the bill impossible.
Republican redistricting committee members said the schedule calls for the panel to vote on King's proposal Saturday with a full House debate beginning Monday. The Senate is continuing to hold public hearings around the state.
Democrats immediately denounced the new King map as a fraud that will be replaced with another map later in the legislative process.
"There is no way Tom DeLay is going to let a map get out of here that re-elects Martin Frost. He hates him too much," said state Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo, a member of the House Redistricting Committee.
Committee member Rep. Mike Krusee, R-Round Rock, denied that another map is lying in wait.
"There's no secret plan. There's no secret map," Krusee said. "We're trying to pass a good map that is fair to Republicans for the first time in history that will pass court muster."
Any map approved by the Legislature is likely to face a court challenge. The current congressional districts were drawn by a three-judge federal court after the Legislature failed to act in 2001.
King said his map would elect 19 Texas Republicans to Congress, but analysis of the map based on information from the Texas Legislative Council indicates that the plan would elect 21 Republicans at the expense of six Democratic incumbents.
The incumbents who would be forced from office by the creation of new Republican districts are Reps. Jim Turner of Crockett, Max Sandlin of Marshall, Hall of Rockwall, Nick Lampson of Beaumont, Charles Stenholm of Abilene and Chet Edwards of Waco.
The residences of Reps. Bell and Gene Green, D-Houston, are moved out of their Harris County districts. But each could move back into his district and likely win re-election, though each might be more vulnerable to a black or Hispanic challenger in a Democratic primary.
Edwards told the House committee Thursday that the constantly changing map proposals are a "political rope-a-dope" meant to mislead people. He said black voters in Waco are angry that they were split into two districts so there is no way they can help elect a Democrat to Congress from McLennan County.
A similar split occurred in Lampson's 9th District. Black voters in Beaumont were split between the 9th and the 8th District, held by Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands. And minority voters in Galveston County were taken from the 9th District and put into DeLay's 22nd District.
With 291,000 Harris County residents added to the 9th District, it becomes overwhelmingly Republican based on historical voting trends.
Lampson's residence would be in Brady's reconfigured district. But even if Lampson moved back into the 9th, it is unlikely he could win re-election.
"District 9 is probably one of the worst examples of how you destroyed the minority voting rights," said Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, D-San Antonio. "You put African-Americans, minorities, Asians in ghettos in such a way that the Republican primary will affect the outcome of the election."
King said his map would not reduce minority voting strength in any way that violates federal law.
"To my knowledge, this map does not violate the federal Voting Rights Act anywhere in Texas," King said.
That's fine, keep a Rat district, just get Frost OUT of it. It's my understanding that his house is barely in his district as it is, so we should be able to move him into an adjacent GOP district fairly easily. I suppose he could just move into the new district, but it could land him some minority opposition in the primary, which I would LOVE to see, since it would highlight Frost's usage of black voters on his personal voting plantation.
No need to change Hall's district. That's just rude.
With little debate, the redistricting panel advanced the newly drawn map by a vote of 10-4 about an hour after it was unveiled.
Tinker is one thing, nothing wrong with that. It's the "targeting" I have a problem with. As JohnnyZ said, it's rude.
"As for Frost's district, while I would prefer that it be eliminated, I have to say that leaving it alone (or making it even more Democratic) is the safest course of action. Not only would it avoid a lawsuit because of minority regression, but it would help ensure that none of the other RATs in the region get reelected (other than Eddie Bernice Johnson, of course). Having 2 RAT districts in the Dallas area isn't that bad for us---the new maps create 3 such districts in the Houston area. We don't want to get too greedy in TX; remember what happended to the RATs in GA in the 1990s (and, to a lesser extent, in 2002)."
But what are all the possible scenarios as to what can be done with the seat ? I haven't seen the recent maps (or the current lines, for that matter) to see what members border him. I think our goal ought to be to draw every Caucasian 'Rat out of their seat (exempting Hall) and see if we can also similarly create some possible NON-Caucasian GOP districts. Easier done for the former, harder for the latter.
Senators have problems with House redistricting map
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tuesday, July 8, 2003
AUSTIN — Democrats and some Republicans in the Texas Senate aren't satisfied with a congressional redistricting map the House produced, meaning changes to the plan are necessary, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Tuesday.
"There are some concerns by members of the Senate on the House map that came over last night. So we're going to have to go to work on that map if we're going to see a redistricting plan come out of the Senate," Dewhurst said.
Dewhurst, a Republican who presides over the Senate, also said he wanted to be involved in the drafting of the GOP-backed House plan but he wasn't included.
The Republican-controlled House rolled over Democrats' objections and gave final approval 83-62 early Tuesday to a map that redraws the state's congressional districts in favor of Republicans.
It could send as many as 21 Texas Republicans to Congress. Right now Democrats hold a 17-15 edge in the delegation.
Among the senators who don't like the House map is Sen. Bill Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant, who said the House proposal would hurt representation for his region.
"I cannot vote for the House map," Ratliff said. "It obliterates northeast Texas. That is the part of the state that I represent. ... Texarkana would be represented by somebody in east Dallas County."
Ratliff said if he agrees to support a modified map and votes to bring it up for debate, he would have to have assurances that it would remain intact through the rest of the legislative process, even through a House-Senate conference committee.
Senate rules require a two-thirds vote before debate is allowed in the 31-member chamber.
It's unfortunate we can't defeat Sandlin under current lines, and you do make a point regarding Hall. It's just I wish we could find a way that didn't punish him. I can understand the man not wanting to switch parties at his age, though. As far as I'm concerned, his party left him a long time ago, and this fella is the last bonafide Tory, that's why I think he's deserving of some respect from us.
"As for eliminating every white Anglo Democrat, you need to understand that Frost represents a district with large black and Hispanic populations. I think it's smart redistricting to create a 30% black, 40% Hispanic district in Dallas where Frost would win unless defeated in a primary, just as it would be smart politics to create a 35% black, 35% Hispanic district in Houston-Galveston where a black RAT would only have 50-50 odds of winning."
Yes, that I understand, that's why if we couldn't hack off parts of his district to other neighboring areas, then going with a proposal to make it as non-Caucasian (non-Anglo) as humanly possible is the only other option.
"As for creating additonal Hispanic-majority Republican districts, see my following post to another thread:"
Great stuff. I pinged others on my list to have a look at it. :-)
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