Democrat Richard Raymond Lashes Out at Final TX Redistricting Plan

AUSTIN - State Rep. Richard Raymond (D-Laredo) delivered scathing comments over the latest congressional redistricting map produced by the Republican leadership in Texas early Thursday morning.

"Make no mistake. This final plan was cobbled together with backroom deals and brute pressure from Washington power brokers," Raymond said.

"The architects of this plan will be remembered for their willingness to ignore Texas Senate tradition, for violating Texas House rules of procedure, as well as their complete disregard for historic communities of interest and for consigning the interest of Hispanics and other minorities to the waste bin," Raymond added.

He argued this plan is "far and away the worst map we've seen yet. It amounts to a blatant assault on the interests of Hispanic and African-American voters and completely ignores the wishes of thousands of Texans who testified in redistricting hearings," Raymond said.

"After Republicans argued among themselves for weeks, U.S. House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-Sugar Land) was forced to come to Austin to knock Republican heads together to get a map to his liking, and all they could produce is a map that defies all logic and common sense," Raymond said.

The leadership's plan is intended to eliminate six Anglo Democrats currently holding office and to create the impression that only minorities are Democrats in Texas.

"It slices and dices existing minority communities so that their influence is minimized and they have no incentive to vote in either Republican or Democratic primary elections," Raymond said.

"But the discrimination doesn't end there. It completely guts the strength of rural Texas by combining them with urban areas to ensure that there will never be another Congressman from rural Texas," he added.

Raymond went on to express outrage over the Republican's decision to split Laredo and Webb County in half.

"Not only does this plan divide Webb County into two districts for the first time in history, it also ignores Laredo's position as the economic, trade and cultural center of the region," Raymond said.

"It deprives Webb County residents of their right to a strong and united voice in determining their future - the future of the fastest growing and most dynamic region of the state," he added.

He said the plan further exposes the Republicans' complete lack of respect for the long overlooked needs of the emerging Hispanic majority in Texas.

The map, Raymond said, was the result of "a raw partisan grab for power that cast aside any pretense of fairness or regard for the rights of minorities" and the desire "to sacrifice the seniority of our current Democratic Congressmen for the needs of the White House and Tom Delay."

"It clearly exposes the Republicans complete lack of regard for the interests of Hispanics - the fastest growing community in Texas - and for rural voters whose fierce independence in their voting habits threatens Republican control of the House."

Raymond said the map contains "a number of absurdities" in the way new congressional boundaries were drawn.

Besides dividing Webb County in half, he cited the pairing of the largely Hispanic low-income area of Oak Cliff in South Dallas with the ultra-affluent Highland Park area of Dallas as an example of the plans "complete disregard for communities of interest."

"In Travis County, Republicans could not defeat Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin) in District 10 so they have now sliced his district into three new districts," he said.

The state Capitol, the University of Texas, and Austin Community College have now been paired with the suburbs of Houston to create a new district Doggett has little hope of winning, Raymond argued.

In addition, the plan slices Bexar County into four districts and places Congressman Ciro Rodriquez (R-San Antonio) in jeopardy of losing his seat.

"It's bad for minorities in every part of the state, not just Hispanics. The interests of Hispanics were ignored so that Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Tom Craddick (R-Midland) could get a congressional seat for Midland," Raymond said. "But it came at the cost of violating the rights of minorities all over the state."

Raymond said he has every intention of "continuing to speak out so that every Texan will know what is going on in the Legislature.

"From day one Texans have been lied to about this process. They were lied to about the process, lied to about who was drawing the map, lied to about the make-up of the final map, lied to about their plans to change the primary date, and lied to about their concern for minorities," Raymond said.

"This map amounts to little more than a illegal high-jacking of the democratic process and is an insult to anyone who believes in protecting the rights of minorities and the democratic process," he concluded.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back

GOD BLESS OUR MILITARY
THANK A VET!
MAKE A DONATION TODAY

Keep Our Republic Free

Or mail checks to
FreeRepublic , LLC
PO BOX 9771
FRESNO, CA 93794

or you can use

PayPal at Jimrob@psnw.com

STOP BY AND BUMP THE FUNDRAISER and say THANKS to Jim Robinson!
IT'S IN THE BREAKING NEWS SIDEBAR
Thanks

How can anyone be disenfranchised? As long as all state congressional districts have approximately the same population, then no one has any bigger say than anybody else. The dems turned gerrymandering into a science in the early 90's. They guaranteed themselves a seat by lumping their traditional supporters into one district. The strategy backfired because it drained dem voters from surrounding districts, thus improving the GOP chances of winning them. This is one of the major reasons why the GOP dramatically took over the House in 1994.

Tough beanies, Richard. It's your fault for losing the majority. You and your Dem ilk have been running the show for 150 years and you gerrymandered to your heart's content. Now, it's someone else's turn.

Now, stop whining and learn to take it like a man.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.