Texas Redistricting: The San Antonio court entered an order this afternoon setting a hearing for May 29 at 9 a.m. to decide what to do with the Texas maps – or, more exactly, to decide how to decide what to do. The order acknowledged that the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby Co. would “affect the final [...]
Posts Tagged ‘redistricting’
Abbott predicts special session for redistricting
For the first time, someone says out loud the rumor of a special session on redistricting. Attorney General Greg Abbott let House members know in the Republican caucus meeting on Tuesday that he expects and is hoping for a special session on redistricting — sooner than later. Several lawmakers in the meeting confirmed that Abbott [...]
Where things stand with two weeks to go in the legislative session
With the Thursday midnight deadline for bills to pass on second reading in the House, I figured this would be a good time to take a look at the status of some major legislation and legislative priorities. There are two weeks left in the regular session, and the specter of overtime is hazy but present. [...]
So where does redistricting stand?
From Texas Redistricting: The Texas Legislature is in the final stretch of its regular session (sine die on May 27), and, at this point, in the calendar, if anything gets done, it looks like it will have to start on the Senate side. Although a couple of redistricting bills – along with some proposals for [...]
Veasey v Garcia, Round Two?
Looks like we’ll have at least one high profile Democratic primary next year. Domingo Garcia’s pursuit of the national presidency of the League of United Latin American Citizens has just as much to do with politics as activism. The former state representative is considering whether to seek a rematch against Rep. Marc Veasey in the [...]
Redistricting remains a partisan issue
We’re not surprised by this, right? Amarillo Sen. Kel Seliger offered a redistricting bill to the Senate State Affairs Committee that would formally adopt interim maps drawn by a federal court in San Antonio last year. The maps for Congressional, state Senate and House districts were used for the 2012 election while a federal court [...]
Senate committee to take up interim maps bill
From Texas Redistricting: The Texas Senate’s state affairs committee has scheduled a hearing for Thursday, April 18, at 2 p.m. (or upon adjournment) to consider SB 1524 – State Sen. Kel Seliger’s bill to adopt the court-drawn interim maps as permanent. As drafted, the bill would apply to all three maps that are currently in [...]
Still pondering Abbott’s redistricting motives
The Trib’s Ross Ramsey wonders what Greg Abbott is up to. Greg Abbott is selling a redistricting nostrum, telling Texas legislators they could cut their legal risks by adopting new political maps right away. It is a hard sell. Lawmakers are getting along so well they practically break out into song every day. Abbott, the [...]
“One person, one vote” upheld
More accurately, a challenge to the constitutional doctrine of “one person, one vote” was dismissed by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has rejected a conservative challenge to the common practice of counting everyone, not just U.S. citizens, when adjusting the size of voting districts across the nation. Without comment, the justices let stand a [...]
Davis says she’s not running for Governor next year
So much for that. State Sen. Wendy Davis, who has emerged as one of the most visible Democrats in the Capitol this session, says she has no plans to run for governor in 2014, but will seek another term representing Fort Worth next year. “I’m running for my Senate district in 2014, and hopefully earning [...]
From the “Turning out more Democratic voters will mean more Democratic votes” department
I think that’s a fair way of characterizing this Texas on the Potomac post. Last November, the Houston Chronicle completed a database analysis of the changing population patterns of the state and the changing voting proclivities of key demographic blocs. Our conclusion: Texas would become competitive by 2020 and a true toss-up state by 2024 [...]
Advising the court on redistricting
Last Friday, all parties to the Texas redistricting lawsuit submitted their advisories to the San Antonio court, in which they told the court what they think it should do once the Supreme Court has rendered a decision on the Voting Rights Act. You can see what they all had to say there, or you can [...]
Abbott asks for the interim maps
Very interesting. The recently dormant Texas redistricting issue woke up Thursday with a disagreement between the state’s attorney general and a Latino legislators’ group. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has called on the Legislature to make the current — and interim — redistricting maps permanent. Abbott’s letter to Texas House Speaker Joe Straus — which [...]
County redistricting lawsuit costing a bundle
Redistricting is expensive, y’all. Harris County has spent nearly $1.3 million fighting a 2011 lawsuit filed by a group of Hispanic activists against the redistricting plan it adopted that year for its four county commissioner precincts. The plaintiffs, led by Houston City Councilmen James Rodriguez and Ed Gonzalez, and represented by Chad Dunn, general counsel [...]
The redistricting commission idea rides again
Jeff Wentworth is no longer in the Senate, but his signature idea for a bipartisan redistricting commission still lives, now in an expanded form. State Rep. Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas) filed a proposed constitutional amendment Wednesday that would move responsibility for both congressional and legislative redistricting in Texas to a 7-person, bipartisan commission. The proposed amendment [...]
More time for redistricting advisories
Texas Redistricting: The San Antonio court entered an order late Thursday afternoon extending the time for parties to file map advisories through March 22 and the deadline for responses through April 5. The original deadline for the advisories had been today. The extension came at the request of the Texas Latino Redistricting Task Force, which said [...]
The redistrictor’s dilemma
Some fascinating news from Texas Redistricting. Friday’s bill filing deadline in the Texas Legislature brought bills by State Rep. Drew Darby (R-San Angelo) – chair of the House redistricting committee – and State Sen. Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo) to make permanent the three interim maps drawn by the San Antonio court last year. The identical bills [...]
On Latinos not winning Latino Congressional districts
I have a problem with this analysis by Nathan Gonzales, at least as it pertains to the three Texas districts included. Even though a record number of Latinos are serving in the 113th Congress, Hispanic candidates are significantly underperforming in heavily Hispanic districts, particularly compared to other minority groups. Nationwide, just 41 percent of congressional [...]
Precinct analysis: Comparing 2012 and 2008, Senate and SBOE edition
To follow up on my previous examination of how the 2012 election returns looked in State House districts compared to the 2008 returns, I now have the data to look at other types of districts as well. You can find it as well on the Texas Legislative Council’s webpage – here are the reports for [...]
How should the San Antonio court proceed after SCOTUS rules on Section 5?
That’s what the San Antonio judges in the redistricting case asked the parties to help it figure out. In its order, the court told parties what has been widely assumed – namely that the panel would “not issue any opinion, if at all, under after the Supreme Court resolves the Section 5 matters.” However, the [...]
Committee time
Now the real work gets started. House Speaker Joe Straus announced committee assignments for the Legislature’s lower chamber on Thursday, ending speculation over key chairmanships and giving lawmakers the go-ahead to start considering bills. Here’s his list. Of the standing committees, 32 are chaired by men, six by women. That’s one more female chair than [...]
Looks like we’ll be waiting on SCOTUS for awhile
Texas Redistricting: The Texas redistricting appeal wasn’t on the list of cases reviewed by the Justices at their screening conference today. With the passage of time – and the case not even being listed for review – the calendar now makes it highly unlikely that the court could take up the case even if it [...]
A look ahead to the 2013 Lege
The Trib previews the biennial hijinks of the 2013 Texas Legislature. The last time Texas lawmakers convened in Austin, they were absorbed with numbers and boundaries: how to make ends meet with a deflated state budget and draw new district maps the courts would approve. But with improving fiscal conditions and redistricting mostly in the [...]
SCOTUS has not taken up the Texas redistricting lawsuit yet
Texas Redistricting: No decision announced [Friday at the Supreme Court about whether the court will hear the Texas redistricting case. The court, however, could issue additional orders on Monday. The Justices haven’t had these briefs for long, so it’s not surprising they haven’t taken action yet. They have conferences on January 11 and 18, and [...]
White Ds and non-white Rs
A few points to make about this. White Democrats are an increasingly vanishing species in the Texas Legislature, where there will be only 10 when the new legislative session starts in early January. The face of the Legislature has undergone a dramatic transformation in the past 25 years, and the state’s rapidly changing demographics are [...]
SCOTUS voter ID update
The matter is officially with the Supreme Court now. A federal court deferred further proceedings in a lawsuit filed by Texas over the state’s voter identification law until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on whether part of the Voting Rights Act is constitutional. A three-judge panel in Washington said today that “in the interest of [...]
Where redistricting stands with SCOTUS
From Texas Redistricting: What happens now in the Supreme Court? With the filing of motions to affirm or dismiss last week by the Justice Department and intervenors, Texas’ appeal of the preclearance ruling is now ready for review by the Justices. Under Rule 18 of the Supreme Court rules, the clerk of the Supreme Court [...]
What will Doggett do?
Does Rep. Lloyd Doggett want his old district back or not? The congressional and legislative districts used in this year’s elections were temporary maps drawn by panel of federal judges in San Antonio. The maps were designed to be used this year, while the courts continued to sort out various legal challenges to maps drawn [...]
Is there more redistricting for Texas in the cards?
The short answer is it depends. For the most part, Republicans are content to keep the interim map used for the 2012 elections — if the courts allow it. “I don’t sense a lot of anxiousness from either the state or congressional side to open back up congressional redistricting,” said Chris Perkins, a GOP pollster [...]
City wins Census recount
It’s official: The city of Houston really did have 2.1 million people as of the 2010 Census. The U.S. Census Bureau has adjusted the city’s 2010 population from 2,099,451 to 2,100,263. The difference is only 812 people, but it’s enough to push the city over the 2.1 million mark, a threshold for adding City Council [...]
Plaintiffs want to proceed with new redistricting maps
Texas Redistricting: Plaintiff groups in the Texas redistricting litigation in San Antonio told the court that it should go ahead and start the process of drawing remedial state house and congressional maps for use in 2014, but disagreed slightly about the timing of the process. Under proposals from two plaintiff groups, the state would have [...]
Parties split on waiting for SCOTUS
Texas Redistricting: Lawyers for the Justice Department and intervenors in the Texas voter ID case told the court yesterday that the court should put off consideration of Texas’ claim that section 5 of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional until the Supreme Court decides the pending Shelby County v. Holder case next year. That case involves a [...]