"Democrats hold a 17-15 majority in the Texas congressional delegation, and Republicans want to overcome that. They say current districts were based on maps drawn to benefit Democrats. About six of the current districts have a majority of Republican voters but re-elected long-time incumbent Democrats in the 2002 elections."
I haven't followed this one so I truly don't understand. It sounds like Republicans were unable to get Republicans elected, even in districts that are majority Republican, so they want to make districts even more Republican. What happened to working hard and getting conservatives elected?
The districts are currently drawn to elect the most Democrats possible. The fact that some incumbent Democrats are getting re-elected in districts that are slightly Republican only proves the power of incumbency and the enormous campaign warchests that can be built up.
The truth is that Republicans have been making gains in Texas despite Democrat gerrymandering. Otherwise, we would never have taken over all the statewide offices and both houses of the Legislature. We have been working hard.
But why in the world should we be electing representatives to the US Congress on maps drafted by our enemies? We lived under their tyranny for 130 years. Can we please get to draft the maps just once?