From the Texas Legislative Council’s 2010 Redistricting report, on page 9:
Although the total state populations for the [Census Bureau] 2009 estimate (24,782,302) and the [State Data Center] 2010 projection (24,330,612) are close, and the ideal house district populations for both sets of numbers are also close (165,215 according to the CB 2009 estimate versus 162,204 according to the SDC 2010 projection), the two sets provide different accounts of population growth by county. This is illustrated in Table 2, which compares the current, estimated, and projected number of districts in large counties. Note in particular the differences for Collin, Dallas, Denton, El Paso, Fort Bend, Johnson, Nueces, and Tarrant Counties.
The 2009 CB estimate suggests a potential increase in the number of house districts in Collin, Denton, Fort Bend, Hidalgo, Johnson, Tarrant, and Williamson Counties, whereas the 2010 SDC projection suggests a potential increase in the number of house districts in Collin, Denton, Hidalgo, and Williamson Counties. The 2009 CB estimate suggests a potential decrease in the number of house districts in Dallas, El Paso, and Nueces Counties, whereas the 2010 SDC projection suggests no potential decrease in the number of house districts in any county, with the possible exception of Harris County. Under both the estimate and projection, the number of house districts in Harris County could remain unchanged or could decrease by one. The actual number of districts each large county will receive cannot be determined until the 2010 Census count has been processed.
See page 11 for the table in question. Harris County probably won’t lose a seat in the House, but it could, and there’s nothing about our Census form return rates so far to suggest we’ll do better than it looks right now. I’m just saying.
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