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If the new districts are adopted then I see it as a more open primary. I read somewhere that Hall has a large amount of new voters [430,000 new constituents] in the new district. If the redistricting is struck down by the Courts then I agree Hall could run in his old district and be elected with ease. It votes about 60% or more Republican in statewide races so he's getting Republican voters.

"If the new districts are adopted then I see it as a more open primary. I read somewhere that Hall has a large amount of new voters [430,000 new constituents] in the new district."

It is true that Hall currently represents only 34% of the redrawn district's population. But another 12% of the population comes from the Republican 3rd and 6th districts and are in Collin County, part of which Hall has represented for years. And the 46% of the district where Hall is universally known happens to be the most Republican part of the district, and it would not surprise me if that 46% of the population cast over 55% of the vote in the GOP primary. And winning the GOP primary will actually be the hard part for Hall, since the district is so heavily Republican (its combined GOP statewide contested-race vote was 63% in 2002) that the only Democrats who could win were (i) Ralph Hall or (ii) Congressman Max Sandlin if he faced an unknown Republican who refused to run TV ads. And as I wrote before, Hall's switch will pretty much clear the field on the GOP side, even without Rove's help (and you know Karl will do whatever he can to help W's buddy Ralph). I think Ralph Hall is in the clear, and so do the Democrats.