Go to http://gis1.tlc.state.tx.us/ and check out Plan H134 for a revised State House map from House Redistricting Chair Burt Solomons. Here’s the Harris County view:
Harris County, take two
Still 24 districts, with either Rep. Scott Hochberg or Rep. Hubert Vo on the outside looking in. In this variation, HD143 goes back to being an East End seat, and HD148 regains some of its old territory in the Heights, but my part of the Heights gets moved into HD145, which would make me a constituent of Rep. Carol Alvarado. As with Rep. Ana Hernandez Luna, I would be delighted to be her constituent, but heartbroken not to be Rep. Jessica Farrar’s constituent. HD134 gains a little more outside the Loop territory, but most of the districts on the west side look not too different than they were before. Beyond Harris County, the only thing I looked for was the weird uterus-shaped HD149 that surrounds and passed through Williamson County. It’s still there. You’ve got to be a little desperate to maintain Republican hegemony if you’re drawing districts like that.
Also, State Rep. Garnet Coleman has submitted a plan, Plan H130. The Harris view:
Rep. Coleman's map for Harris County
That one has 25 seats in Harris County, so Reps. Hochberg and Vo can remain. It also puts me back into HD148, which just feels right. And as we turn our eyes to Williamson County, we see no uterine districts. All of which means that this map won’t be given a moment’s thought.
With regards to Rep. Hochberg, I note that someone has been whispering into Burka‘s ear.
I haven’t discussed Hochberg’s plans with him, but I did hear from sources close to Sarah Davis that she expects Hochberg to move into her district and run against her.
I don’t know who his sources are and I don’t know who his sources’ sources are, but I do know that I have not heard anything like this from Democrats as yet. In fact, the reaction many of us had was that it was Rep. Vo who’d gotten the short end of the stick, since the HD137 drawn (in the original map, anyway; I can’t vouch for the revised map just yet) has more of Hochberg’s precincts in it than Vo’s. I personally thought Vo might be better off running against Rep. Jim Murphy in HD133, since as noted before it might be viable for him. Burka’s sources may be right and they may be wrong, I’m just saying that I’m not hearing the same buzz that he is.
Finally, a couple of stories from the Monitor and the Guardian about redistricting in South Texas and the disposition of Hidalgo County. I figure they wind up getting shafted again, which is to say business as usual.
UPDATE: The following was sent out by email from Karen Loper, Rep. Vo’s campaign manager, last night:
Message from Hubert Vo for help with redistricting
The Texas House Committee on Redistricting has re-drawn the district lines of the State Representatives and filed the plan as HB150. District 149 which is Hubert Vo’s district has been eliminated. Many of the precincts in his district have been moved to other districts which breaks up the voting strength of all ethnicities including the Vietnamese. The only 3 current Vo precincts left after they move the others are combined with District 137.
Letters should be sent as soon as possible to the redistricting committee. We have attached two sample letters to email or fax – one is for you to use if you live in District 149 and the other should be sent if you live somewhere else. These letters will be used for the committee and also will be sent to the Department of Justice (DOJ) where the redistricting map must be approved .
All you have to do is date the letter and type in your name and address at the bottom. You can make additions to the letter if you wish to do so. The letters should not argue the Democratic and Republican point because that is not part of the DOJ’s concerns. You can email or fax the letter. The e-mail address and fax number are listed below. PLEASE SEND A COPY TO HUBERT VO ALSO
SEND YOUR LETTER TO:
marc.veasey@house.state.tx.us or Fax (512) 463-1516
AND SEND A COPY TO:
Sample letters were included. You can see them here and here.
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