New map, same pain for Dems (Texas Redistricting fun)

AUSTIN -- Senate Republicans Thursday unveiled a new congressional redistricting proposal that could cost Texas Democrats up to seven seats in Congress in next year's elections.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Texans want the state's congressional district boundaries redrawn -- despite statistics released by a state Senate committee showing 89 percent of the 2,620 people who testified in public hearings around Texas opposed any redistricting.

"The majority of the voters here in the state of Texas support President Bush and his policies. The majority of the congressional delegation does not. That's not fair," Dewhurst said.

Democrats hold a 17-15 majority in the state's congressional delegation. But if the map unveiled Thursday were to become law, Republicans could hold a 22-10 majority.

A map passed by the state House earlier in this special session could result in the GOP holding 21 of Texas' congressional seats.

The Senate map would create new Republican districts in areas now held by Democrats, and would bolster GOP strength in a district now held by U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-San Antonio.

"The Hispanic surname registration is reduced from 55 percent to less than 44 percent by taking Webb County voters out and replacing them with German Anglo Hill Country voters from Boerne, Kerrville and Bandera," said Democratic consultant Ed Martin.

The proposed map probably would result in defeat for Democratic U.S. Reps. Martin Frost of Dallas, Max Sandlin of Marshall, Jim Turner of Crockett, Nick Lampson of Beaumont and Chet Edwards of Waco. U.S. Rep. Charles Stenholm, D-Abilene, would have a marginal chance of winning re-election.

The 4th District in northeast Texas appears to have been drawn to help conservative U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall, D-Rockwall, win re-election. The district would remain rural, and would drop from about 68 percent to 60 percent Republican, based on recent voting history.

But the addition of Democratic counties in the Texarkana area to Hall's district would increase the chance that he might be defeated in the primary by a moderate or liberal Democrat who then could not win the general election. Hall has alienated hard-core Democrats by casting votes with Republicans in Congress.

The Democrats' biggest complaint with the map was how Republicans redrew Frost's 24th District to eliminate him. Frost is the leader of the delegation Democrats.

To ensure his defeat, the Republican map reduces the African-American and Hispanic voting-age population in the district from 54 percent to 29 percent. Frost's district then becomes strongly Republican, and its minority population, which historically votes Democratic, is drawn into other Republican districts.

Texas Legislative Council lawyer Jeff Archer told the Senate Jurisprudence Committee that the minority vote in Frost's district will lose clout.

Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, told Archer, "As it relates to this part of the state, a minority influence district has been wiped out."

"That's a reasonable statement," Archer replied, but he cautioned that Frost's existing district might not be considered a minority-influence district under the Voting Rights Act. Such a district contains enough minority voters that they can affect election outcomes even if a nonminority is elected.

Dewhurst said the new map creates two new minority districts, an African-American district in Houston and a Hispanic district in South Texas.

The black district is in what is now the 25th District held by U.S. Rep. Chris Bell, D-Houston. The district would be renumbered as the 9th, black voting age population would be increased from 22 percent to 36 percent and Bell's residence would be outside the district.

But Bell now represents 47 percent of the population that would be in the new district. He likely could move back into the district and win re-election, though he might be vulnerable to a Democratic primary challenge from a black politician.

The 25th District would become a new Hispanic district in South Texas. By jamming the new district in there, the map redraws South Texas so three Hispanic districts stretch about 200 miles from the Rio Grande Valley to the Austin area.

Martin argued that there really would be no additional Hispanic district because Bonilla's district would become majority Anglo.

Sen. Mario Gallegos, D-Houston, predicted that the map would win Jurisprudence Committee approval on a partisan 4-3 vote. But he said he believes Republican members are nervous about it.

"This map definitely has them squirming. They're scared of possible repercussions at the Department of Justice," Gallegos said. The Justice Department must review new districts for compliance with the Voting Rights Act, which attempts to prevent dilution of minority voting strength.

During late June and early July, the committee held seven public hearings around the state. Most testimony was against changing the current congressional district boundaries.

"Obviously, a lot of time when you're having public testimony different political parties try to get their activists turned out," Dewhurst said.

"Mr. Dewhurst, you have insulted the hundreds of Texans who took the time and trouble to testify, and you owe them an immediate -- and genuine -- apology," Malcolm said.

Republican Party spokesman Ted Royer said that the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce hired 40 people to help pack a state House hearing on redistricting and demonstrate opposition to any changes.

From The Dallas Morning News today:
Remap would divide Frost's district
New GOP proposal draws arguments about minority representation
07/18/2003
By ROBERT T. GARRETT and GROMER JEFFERS Jr. / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – Republican senators unveiled a proposed congressional map Thursday that would break the Dallas-Fort Worth district of U.S. Rep. Martin Frost, D-Arlington, into four pieces.
The suggested dismantling of the 24th Congressional District, which Mr. Frost has represented for a quarter-century, sparked arguments over whether the new map would help or hurt blacks and Hispanics.
Chief author Sen. Todd Staples, R-Palestine, said the plan retains "minorities' opportunities to elect candidates of their choice." But Sen. Mario Gallegos, D-Houston, said the map would dilute minority voters' power.
"You're putting them all together in one Noah's ark," Mr. Gallegos told Mr. Staples at a Senate committee hearing on the new map.
Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst sent a signal that lawmakers likely will have to return for a second special session to finish their work on congressional redistricting.

NEW PROPOSAL'S LOCAL CHANGES

Here is how North Texas congressional districts would change under a GOP-backed plan unveiled in the Senate on Thursday:
3rd DISTRICT: Sam Johnson, R-Plano, absorbs all of Collin County, keeps Richardson, sheds Rowlett, Sachse, part of Garland. The district grows even more strongly Republican.
4th DISTRICT: Ralph Hall, D-Rockwall, sheds east, north Collin County, picks up Texarkana, all the I-30 counties east of Dallas, keeps Tyler but not Longview. The district tilts less to the GOP.
5th DISTRICT: Jeb Hensarling, R-Dallas, keeps the White Rock Lake area but shifts from the southeast to northeast corner of Dallas County, gains all of Kaufman and Cherokee counties and parts of Navarro but sheds five counties east of Waco. The district remains GOP-friendly.
6th DISTRICT: Joe Barton, R-Ennis, absorbs all of Arlington, sheds much of southern Tarrant County, the northwest tip of Johnson County and Corsicana. The district is still GOP turf.
12th DISTRICT: Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, sheds part of southwest Tarrant County, Hurst, keeps Parker County, much of Fort Worth, gains Wise County. The district remains GOP-friendly.
24th DISTRICT: Martin Frost, D-Arlington, connects Carrollton, Farmers Branch, Coppell, Grapevine, Grand Prairie, Mansfield, Cedar Hill, Duncanville, but loses Arlington, southeast Fort Worth. The district becomes GOP-friendly.
26th DISTRICT: Michael Burgess, R-Highland Village, keeps most of Denton County, sheds Frisco, part of Carrollton, fishhooks into southeast Fort Worth. The district tilts less to the GOP.
30th DISTRICT: Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas, sheds Irving, gains southeast corner of Dalllas County. The district grows more strongly Democratic.
32nd DISTRICT: Pete Sessions, R-Dallas, gains Irving, the northeast edge of Dallas, sheds Addison, Carrollton, Coppell, Farmers Branch. The district remains GOP-friendly.
SOURCE: Dallas Morning News research

Two-thirds rule
Mr. Dewhurst said that in the current special session, he will honor a Senate rule requiring a two-thirds vote to take up any measure.
But the Republican lieutenant governor said he would put the redistricting measure at the top of the Senate's agenda in any subsequent session. That would mean only a bare majority of the chamber's 31 senators would be needed to bring it up.
He appealed for cooperation in the current special session from 13 senators who have vowed to block any floor action on redistricting. Among them are all 12 of the chamber's Democrats and a Republican, Sen. Bill Ratliff of Mount Pleasant.
Mr. Dewhurst rejected Democrats' claims that most Texans oppose a redrawing of the congressional map.
"The majority of people here in the state of Texas support George Bush and his policies," Mr. Dewhurst said. "The majority of the Texas delegation [to Congress] does not."
Democrats hold a 17-15 edge in the state's congressional delegation. Republicans, led by the White House and U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, want a new map, saying the current one fails to reflect the state's shift to the GOP. Gov. Rick Perry called the Legislature into special session to take up the issue after Democrats killed a remap attempt in the regular session than ended June 2.
Mr. Dewhurst said he hasn't given up hope of progress.
"We're optimistic that they are going to work with us," he said of the 13 senators. "In the back of their minds, they would have to weigh that after we finish with the important business we have in front of us, what the likelihood is that Governor Perry would call us back in and we would start all over again."
Kathy Walt, a spokeswoman for Mr. Perry, declined to speculate on events.
"The governor believes there is time left in this special session, that they are going to accomplish the goal of this special session," she said.
Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, who worked on the map with Mr. Staples, said it would create 11 safe Democratic seats, 18 safe Republican seats and three tossup districts. Democrats maintained that the map would result in 21 GOP members of Congress.
Mr. Dewhurst said it contains "two additional minority majority seats."
But Democrats disputed that, saying an attempt to create a new Hispanic seat in South Texas was undercut by weakening one now represented by U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-San Antonio.
Under the plan, minority neighborhoods in southern Dallas and southeast Fort Worth now represented by Mr. Frost would be splintered and put into two districts dominated by GOP-leaning suburbs of northern Dallas and Denton counties. Other Frost areas would be attached to the district of Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas.
Mr. Frost then would be paired with U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ennis, in another Republican-friendly district, stretching from Arlington to Hillsboro.

Also Online

Texas Talkback: Should the Legislature proceed with redistricting?
|

Maps:
• Current Texas Congressional districts
• Proposed Texas Congressional districts

Special Session: Redistricting hearing schedule, summary, maps
(from the Texas Legislative Council)

More Politics

"They are willing to remove the African-American and Hispanic vote in [Mr. Frost's] 24th District and make it insignificant," said Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas. The Senate proposal is "equally as bad as" a plan passed by the House on July 8, he said.
Mr. West also complained the plan "packs all the minorities" into Ms. Johnson's district, "making it an 80 percent [minority] district, in order to get at Martin Frost."
Doggett's district
Elsewhere, the proposed map puts U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, in a Republican-leaning district that stretches from his hometown to the Rio Grande Valley. U.S. Reps. Charlie Stenholm, D-Abilene, and Randy Neugebauer, R-Lubbock, would not be paired as they were in the House approved plan.
In a related event, Democrats in Washington accused Mr. Perry of cutting $300,000 in discretionary federal funds earmarked for the American GI Forum as retaliation over the Hispanic veterans group's opposition to the redistricting move.
Ms. Walt said the governor was not retaliating. She said initially the governor's office thought the federal money wasn't available, but later learned it was. She said the GI Forum could reapply for the grant.
"It's always easier to make up allegations than to find out the facts," she said.
E-mail gjeffers@dallasnews.com or rtgarrett@dallasnews.com.

Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/071803dntexredist.c2214.html

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Latest proposal could cost party 7 seats