This week, Texas Republicans rushed through a contentious congressional redistricting plan. Their intent is to change the political playing field to create an advantage for the Republican Party. The Texas House only narrowly voted to approve the new map, trumpeted by former President Donald Trump. As you can imagine, Texas Democrats were staunchly against this decision. Today’s approval comes after a month-long stalemate. At the time, in response to widespread opposition, Democratic legislators fled the state to deny a quorum necessary for advancing the plan.
The redistricting bill is projected to flip five congressional seats from Democratic to Republican. Tied to this change are alarming, expected voting patterns of the 2024 elections. Governor Greg Abbott capitalized on the resistance from Democratic representatives, asserting that the new map would enhance Republican political performance in Congress.
Democratic representatives attempted to stop the bill from passing by absconding from Texas, as they had done earlier in the summer. Their stated objective was to prevent a quorum. Republican lawmakers had already planned their maneuver for after Democrats walked out. They proceeded with redistricting nevertheless, doggedly claiming they would carry out their legislative responsibilities even without the presence of their missing colleagues.
The new congressional map sparked outrage over how it affects minority communities. Republican leaders have repeatedly denied claims of racial animus in the redistricting process. After making some noise, they marked a real victory. The new map increases the number of districts where Hispanic voters comprise the majority from seven to eight.
“The underlying goal of this plan is straightforward: improve Republican political performance,” said Todd Hunter, a Republican representative from Corpus Christi. He noted that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Rucho v Common Cause allows for congressional districts to be drawn based on political performance.
Counter to these reassurances, Democratic House members were visibly and audibly frustrated at their exclusion from the redistricting process. Chris Turner, a Democratic representative from Arlington, criticized the Republicans for not allowing more time to review the bill before its approval.
“This bill intentionally discriminates against Black and Hispanic Texans and other Texans of color by cracking and packing minority communities across the state of Texas,” Turner asserted.
Further emphasizing their resistance, Democratic members of the House Majority filed over 100 amendments to the bill, all of which were eventually voted down. Late in the proceedings, Democratic Rep. Nicole Collier took to social media. She picked one of the bathrooms located just off the legislative floor as her setting. “We’re ready to meet Trump where he is, which is on a dirt road,” she declared.
Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, the ranking Democrat on the Texas House Redistricting Committee, grilled Hunter on the reasons for redrawing the map lines. Specifically, she pointed to a lack of cooperation around working with Democratic lawmakers on bipartisan solutions. Hunter justified his actions on the grounds that Democrats had thrown up their hands and deserted their post by walking out of the state.
“You left 17 to 18 days! You could have sat with me,” Hunter noted in his remarks to Gervin-Hawkins.
Beyond the local Texas implications, Texas’s redistricting plotters have provoked reactions from other states. California’s Governor Gavin Newsom and other Democratic governors have begun devising counter-strategies to mitigate the impact of Texas’s gerrymandering. As the California legislature prepares to vote on groundbreaking new legislation, this move further helps solidify Newsom’s plan to respond to Texas’s aggressive redistricting efforts.
The legislative session isn’t over yet. Representatives from the two parties are dug in deep on their respective redistricting positions and how that could affect the 2024 elections. Partisan tensions are high these days, and the stakes for minority representation couldn’t be higher. We know that this issue will be the focus of state and national conversations for years to come.