Van de Putte says she expects redistricting measure to pass

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The organizer of the Senate Democratic walkout said Sunday that she expects a third special session on congressional redistricting will be called and that the politically divisive measure eventually will become law.

Democratic Texas Sens. Frank Madla (from left), Leticia Van de Putte, Eddie Lucio and Judith Zaffirini and her son Carlos Jr. say a prayer before Mass. They were at Risen Savior Catholic Church in Albuquerque, N.M., on Sunday. Jerry Lara/Express-News

Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, is greeted by Father Edward Rivera as Deacon Mark Bussemeier greets Sen. Frank Madla, D-San Antonio, after Sunday Mass at Risen Savior Catholic Church in Albuquerque, N.M. Eleven of Texas' 12 Democratic state senators are on their seventh day away from Texas to avoid a special session called by Gov. Rick Perry. # Maverick Democrat goes his own way San Antonio Sen. Leticia Van de Putte made the surprising comment to a pair of hometown Republicans in a private morning meeting.

"She said there will be a third (session) and that they will very probably have a vote on a map that will pass," Joe Solis, a candidate for the Bexar County Republican Party chairmanship, said of his meeting with Van de Putte.

Van de Putte acknowledged the statements but added that "there are a whole lot of 'ifs' attached."

Solis and Jim McGrody, who founded and runs a GOP Internet-based political action committee from San Antonio, made the weekend "Van to Van de Putte Tour" to try to persuade her to return to Texas with them.

Along with the results of a poll conducted by McGrody on his southtexasrepublican.com Web site, the two came bearing treats. They brought empanadas from Van de Putte's favorite bakery, La Poblanita; her favorite brand of chips and salsa; flowers; and a balloon in the shape of a boot with Texas flag on it.

The poll consisted of an e-mail sent to the 6,000 Republicans who regularly visit the site. McGrody said there were 150 respondents, with 53 percent of those responding saying they favor redistricting and 40 percent in opposition.

Van de Putte, who as chairwoman of the Senate Democratic Caucus, planned and led the walkout to New Mexico, repeated her vow that the Texas 11 will remain here and kill any Senate redistricting effort during the current second special session.

Van de Putte's prediction of a third special session was predicated on several scenarios. They include "the Senate deciding to stay (in Austin), the House deciding to stay, the removal of the two-thirds rule," she said, and the settling of an internal Republican squabble between House Speaker Tom Craddick and Senate Jurisprudence committee chairman Robert Duncan of Lubbock.

Van de Putte referred to a clash between Duncan, who heads the Senate committee charged with producing a redrawn map, and Craddick, who has told legislators he wants a congressional district to be based in Midland, his hometown.

The district ,which includes Midland, currently is anchored in Lubbock. Duncan, a Lubbock native, wants to keep it there.

Van de Putte also referred to a longstanding Senate rule, known as the two-thirds rule, which allows 11 senators to block a bill from coming to the floor for debate. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst removed the rule to force Democrats to participate in the redistricting effort.

The Democrats decided instead to leave the state and are personally financing their stay in New Mexico, now seven days long, drawing on savings and officeholder accounts to pay the daily hotel and living expenses.

Van de Putte said she has taken out a loan against her life insurance policy to finance her stay here (about $200 a day) because she didn't feel it is right to take money out of the family budget.

Van de Putte was joined Sunday by three colleagues, Sens. Frank Madla of San Antonio, Eddie Lucio of Brownsville and Judith Zaffirini of Laredo, for Mass at Risen Savior Catholic Church. They were joined by members of Van de Putte's staff and Zaffirini's son, who spent the weekend visiting his mother.

Van de Putte became teary when relating how her eldest son, Henry, on Saturday announced to a religious retreat group in Kerrville his plans to become a lay minister, the first step to the priesthood.

The session was attended "by his best friends and by the entire family, except for his mother," she said. A legislative arrest warrant calls for Van de Putte, along with her AWOL colleagues, to be detained and returned to the Senate floor if they are found in Texas.

"The mommy in me said I should have been there," Van de Putte said. "But I can't."

Van de Putte was less sentimental when speaking to the Associated Press on Sunday about Gov. Rick Perry and Republican support in Washington for congressional redistricting in Texas.

"I don't know whose puppet strings are controlling which puppet at this point in the Republican Party," she said.

Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt responded that Van de Putte is stooping to personal attacks to try to turn the issue away from the fact that the 11 senate Democrats "ran away from their responsibilities."

Hey, my pleasure. I often will pop an excerpt in my ping so folks can see it, get the main point or a snippet of the article so they have an idea of what's going on and will know if it's what they want to read the full text of.
I thought your whole article/report was great. Thanks SOoooo much for your hard work (and the long trip involved to do it!) in getting this task done ! Great job !!!
Now, listen up Leticia Van de Puke et al !: You get your butts back to Texas NOW !!! You Chicken D's you !

Separated at birth ?
Leticia Van de Putte/Linda Ronstadt

Here is a list of recent articles on Redistricting:
FR Search: Keyword "Redistricting"

8-4-2004
Van de Putte says she expects redistricting measure to pass
(Texas Van to Van de Putte Freep meeting)

08-04-2003
Walkout leader blasts Perry -
Democrat Van de Putte says governor's push for remap has been divisive

08-03-2003
Each side has its spin on redistricting standoff

08-03-2003
Dewhurst's reputation depends on 11 who fled

08-02-2003
Senators' letter asks Dewhurst for help --
Dems get diapers, `nasty' phone calls

07-31-2003
Dewhurst: I'm honoring tradition and precedent
(Article exposes ‘RAT Lies!!)
Congressional districts in Texas today are essentially those drawn by a partisan Legislature in 1991. At that time, a national publication called the Texas map the most outrageously gerrymandered redistricting effort in the nation, resulting in Democratic strength in our congressional delegation well beyond its representation among voters.
Our congressional lines are even more outdated today. When the Legislature failed to draw new lines to accommodate Texas' two new congressional seats in 2001, the job fell to a federal court. The judges made the fewest changes possible to the existing 1991 map, in essence protecting incumbents.
07-29-2003
Democrats bolt again – to New Mexico
(Senators trying to halt new special session on redistricting)

Link to pics of the 11 Democrat Senators that Obstructed Redistricting
(Post #4)

07-28-2003
Session ends as 11 Democrats slip out
(Dem's Flee state again!)

07-26-2003
GOP effort to redraw districts is crushed
[Texas redistricting]

07-24-2003
Democrats may be free to flee - constitutionally protected, says lawyer

07-24-2003
As new Texas redistricting map offered,
Dewhurst says compromise is in the air

07-23-2003
Committee passes redistricting bill (Texas)

07-23-2003
Texas Republican Senators Forge Ahead on Congressional Redistricting Plans

07-19-2003
[Texas] Senators talk of boycotting any redistricting session
Mr. Dewhurst said he would be on solid ground in working around the Senate tradition requiring a two-thirds vote to take up a bill. The late Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock, a Democrat, did the same thing in a 1992 special session on legislative redistricting, Mr. Dewhurst said.
07-18-2003
New map, same pain for Dems
(Texas Redistricting fun)

07-17-2003
New map surfacing in Texas Senate

07-16-2003
Dewhurst at crossroads on redistricting in Texas Senate

07-15-2003
Ratliff joins Democrats to oppose redistricting
The state Republican Party was quick to point out that the [2/3rd’s] rule has been abandoned on occasion – such as when the Senate took up a state senatorial redistricting plan in 1992.
07-09-2003
DROP IT -- Redistricting would benefit few Texans, harm many
(Editorial)

07-08-2003
Senators have problems with House redistricting map - Texas redistricting

07-08-2003
House passes remap
Veteran Democrats may lose seats if bill goes through Senate

Above article is worthy of showing that a picture indeed is worth a thousand words:
First the Chicken D’s run away to Ardmore, Oklahoma. That didn’t work, so here they are,
still having a fit during the Redistricting debate:

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.
07-07-2003
TEXAS REDISTRICTING--Vote TONIGHT!

07-07-2003
Race rhetoric stokes Texas redistricting fire

07-07-2003
Tension may soar as map debate hits House floor - Texas redistricting

07-06-2003
House panel quickly passes Republican redistricting plan -
map likely to unseat six Democrats

07-04-2003
New GOP map restores (Rep. Martin Frost's) district

07-03-2003
Republicans pull proposed map - redistricting

07-03-2003
Chamber of Commerce and GI Forum Hire Temps to Testify

07-02-2003
The Great Texas Power Grab - redistricting

07-01-2003
Tx Democrats Trying Fight, Not Flight, Over Districts
(The-Terrific-Texan-Special-Session)

Oh, I feel SOoooo sorry for 'Fast' Eddie Lucio - having to iron his own shirts !! < /sarcasm >
Photos taken from the Texas Senators of the 78th Legislature website.

The 11 Obstructors:

Gonzalo Barrientos, Austin/Rodney Ellis, Houston/Mario Gallegos Jr., Houston

Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, McAllen/Eddie Lucio Jr., Brownsville/Frank Madla Jr., San Antonio

Eliot Shapleigh, El Paso/Leticia Van de Putte, San Antonio/Royce West, Dallas

John Whitmire, Houston/Judith Zaffirini, Laredo
The Lone Democrat that is staying:

Kenneth Armbrister, Victoria

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