Oh, Redistricting! You are so highly-charged and
controversial. We are once again facing a contentious debate in Texas politics
in regards to redistricting. Remember the scandal in 2002/2003? As you may already know, the state has the ability
to redraw congressional district lines every 10 years after the national census
is conducted. Texas has experienced a boom in population over the past decade.
That means that we also gained greater congressional representation with the
addition of 4 new districts.
A large part of the population boom is due to the increase
of minorities now residing in the state. Minorities have long been
underrepresented in a state that already has a huge number of Hispanic, Asian
and African-Americans making up the population. The Republican-dominated Texas
Legislature’s newest map of congressional districts is receiving much criticism
and accusations of both partisan and racial gerrymandering. Critics claim that
the Legislature’s map intentionally continues their mission to squash the power
of both the Democratic Party as well as minority voters. In the 2012 election, for example, Lloyd
Doggett, a 9-term member of the US House and a Democrat, would either be faced
with running in a new more Republican district or move to a district that would
cover an area from South Austin to San Antonio. That doesn’t
make any sense in the way it would represent the population nor does it make sense politically and geographically.
With so many details making this issue all the more complicated, this post could go on for pages and pages. The Texas Tribune has a handy little page devoted to this fiasco right here. I have barely scratched the surface on the matter. However, those Texas Legislature proposed maps have been stopped. A panel of 3 federal judges has intervened in the meantime
and placed revised maps into place for now. The matter is far from settled as there are
multiple lawsuits in the works (on both political sides) and an appeal to the
Supreme Court by Attorney General Greg Abbott. But, the question remains…how do
we redistrict Texas in a way that is both logical and properly represents the
constituents of the district while being non-partisan?
The best thing to do, in my humble opinion, is to ensure
that district lines are drawn in a way that makes sense geographically and
accurately represents the constituency of the area. Take the politicians out of
the scenario completely and remember the PEOPLE. Wasn’t government created “by
the people” and “for the people” in the first place? Politics has become so much about, well, politics. We have large minority base in Texas. Let's make sure they have a voice. We have a large Democratic base in Austin. Let's make sure they have a voice too. Splitting up Austin/Travis County to inject more Republican votes doesn't represent the constituents in a logical geographic area either. It has been suggested that a committee of non-partisan citizens contribute to the creation of district lines. I think that's a pretty fine idea. Get citizens involved in a matter that very greatly affects them directly.
Take a look and see how and if your district has changed here.
Take a look and see how and if your district has changed here.
Michelle Lee talks about the recent redistricting crisis in an article on her blog, The Blue State Special. She makes the point that while the state’s population is growing and diversifying , the largely Republican legislature is fighting to solidify and unify its presence in the Legislature and Senate by an unfair redistricting process, in effect minimizing the chances of Democratic and ethnically diverse candidates from having a fair chance at competing.
ReplyDeleteRedistricting has always been a sore spot in Texas, especially as Republicans have continued to make headway in elections against Democratic candidates, including incumbents. A news report by the Texas Tribune explains that while the issue has been temporarily resolved, the fact that this resolution led to a stronger suit for several Democratic candidates in the upcoming 2012 electi has led Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot to appeal to the Supreme Court on behalf of Gov. Perry to repeal the decision. The case is currently being reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington. As Michelle Lee points out in her article, this is primarily a power struggle. Recent changes to population demographics have led the Democratic party to gain a small advantage in some areas, the GOP won’t stand for this encroachment on their power. The federal judges that created the new, possibly temporary, redistricting plan have argued that their map represents the “interest of the collective public good, as opposed to the interests of any political party or particular group of people.” Seeing as the population of Hispanics in Texas has grown by 2.8 million, and African Americans by 522, 570 in Texas over the past decade, as compared to a growth of only 465,000 for Anglos, and knowing that statistically the Hispanic and African American populations have generally been known to vote more often for Democratic candidates than Republican, I feel that the map that has been redrawn, providing some advantage to Democrats in certain areas, can only be fair and I would urge the Supreme Court to uphold a unbiased decision by federal judges, as opposed to a map drawn up by Texas GOP politicians who cannot help but be biased in their hopes for redistricting and consolidation of their power.