Tag Archives: redistricting

Justice Department sues Texas over redistricting maps

Add it to the queue. The Department of Justice is suing Texas over its new redistricting maps, alleging that lawmakers intentionally discriminated against Latino and Black voters while redrawing the state’s political districts this year. The lawsuit, filed in federal … Continue reading

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A brief filing update

Just a few observations as we head out of the holiday season and into what I expect will be the busier part of the filing period. I’m using the Patrick Svitek spreadsheet, the SOS candidate filing resource, and the candidate … Continue reading

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Cracking Asian-American communities

The Trib explores what the new Congressional maps did to Asian-American communities, mostly but not exclusively in the Houston area. When Texas lawmakers redrew congressional maps following the 2020 census, they split up Asian American populations in both Harris and … Continue reading

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Redistricting litigation update

Reform Austin shows that the state’s legal defense strategy against the various redistricting lawsuits is “You can’t sue us!” Because of the clear racial gerrymandering, multiple groups are launching legal challenges under the Voting Rights Act. The state has now … Continue reading

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Galveston adopts all-white Commissioners Court map

In case you missed it. Dozens of residents crowded into a small county annex building Friday afternoon to urge, beg, lecture and warn commissioners against approving new precinct maps that dissenters called unfair, undemocratic and potentially illegal. The protest, mostly … Continue reading

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Precinct analysis: The new Congressional map

Previously: New State House map We will now take a look at how the districts of interest in the new Congressional map have changed over the past decade. Same basic idea, looking at the closer districts from 2020 to see … Continue reading

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Rep. Alex Dominguez to run for SD27

Another contender for Eddie Lucio’s soon-to-be-former seat. State Rep. Alex Dominguez is running for Texas Senate, hoping to succeed retiring Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., a fellow Brownsville Democrat, in a race filled with implications for Texas Democrats and the Rio … Continue reading

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ACLU and others sue over new redistricting maps

The count is now seven. Civil rights groups filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday challenging new Texas state legislative and congressional district plans as unconstitutional racial gerrymanders violating both the Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution. The suit details an … Continue reading

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Republicans sue over new Commissioners Court map

Hilarious. Republican Commissioners Jack Cagle and Tom Ramsey have filed a voting rights lawsuit in state court in hopes of halting a Harris County redistricting plan they claim strips more than 1.1 million people of their right to vote in … Continue reading

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Fort Bend County Commissioners Court finishes its redistricting

Things were unsurprisingly partisan, as is the nature of redistricting as we do it. After much confusion, heated discussion, and repeated delays, the Fort Bend County Commissioners Court voted 3-2 on Friday to adopt new precinct boundaries. The redistricting map … Continue reading

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County Court At Law Judge Lesley Briones announces for Commissioner Precinct 4

From the inbox (and on Facebook): Today, I announce my candidacy for Harris County Commissioner, Precinct 4. I have devoted my career to helping people – and serving as a county commissioner will allow me to help improve people’s lives … Continue reading

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Precinct analysis: The new State House map

Like it or not, we have new State House districts. We may as well acquaint ourselves with them. The coverage we’ve had so far has focused on the 2020 election numbers to say whether a district will be red or … Continue reading

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Sen. Powell sues over SD10

Number six and counting. Tarrant County state Sen. Beverly Powell filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the state Senate redistricting plan, marking the latest court challenge to Texas’ Republican-drawn political maps that secure the GOP’s grip on power for the … Continue reading

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Sen. Eddie Lucio will retire

Can’t say I’ll miss him. State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, announced Thursday that he is not seeking reelection after three decades in the upper chamber. He made the announcement during a news conference in Harlingen, saying he was retiring … Continue reading

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A redistricting lawsuit twofer from MALC

One federal, one state. The Mexican American Legislative Caucus in the Texas House has opened a second front in the legal war over the state’s new political maps. The caucus on Wednesday turned to the state courts to challenge the … Continue reading

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A brief update on the Gutierrez/Eckhardt redistricting lawsuit

First news we’ve had in awhile. Plaintiff: Democratic state Sens. Roland Gutierrez and Sarah Eckhardt What the lawsuit argues: Ahead of lawmakers’ third special session, two Democratic state senators sued to block the Legislature from redistricting in a special session … Continue reading

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Fort Bend Commissioners Court redistricting update

Was supposed to be done this week, but has been delayed. Fort Bend County Judge KP George has thrown a wrench in the Commissioners Court’s posted agenda to hold public hearings and adopt a final redistricting map on Oct. 26. … Continue reading

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Commissioners Court passes its new map

It differs from the first map in a few ways, which I will get to in a minute, but it checks all the boxes I wanted it to check. For Democratic Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, it boiled down to … Continue reading

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Redistricting lawsuit #2 filed

This one focuses on just the Congressional map. An organization affiliated with Eric Holder, who was attorney general in the Obama administration, has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the state’s GOP-drawn redistricting map for Congress on behalf of … Continue reading

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CM Travis resigns to run for HD133

Did not see that coming. City Councilmember Greg Travis on Wednesday announced he is running for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives, effectively resigning his District G post at City Hall. Travis told supporters at a River Oaks … Continue reading

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Rep. Vicente Gonzalez to switch to CD34

And in doing so, he’s probably going to make it harder to hold onto CD15, the swingiest district in the state (as far as we can tell from 2020 data). U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, announced Tuesday he is running … Continue reading

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More on Harris County Commissioners Court redistricting

Tune up that tiny violin. Republican Harris County Commissioners Jack Cagle and Tom Ramsey want to keep the decennial process of redistricting precinct boundaries simple. The maps they have proposed would add new zigs and zags to ensure each precinct … Continue reading

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The new maps are now official

Expect further lawsuits to follow. Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday approved Texas’ new political maps for the state’s congressional, legislative and State Board of Education districts, according to Texas Legislature Online. The maps were drawn to keep Texas Republicans in … Continue reading

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October 2021 campaign finance reports: Congress

Another three months have passed, and so we review the Congressional finance reports again. I fear these reports are about to get a lot more boring post-redistricting, but for now we will plow onward. The July 2021 reports are here, … Continue reading

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Harris County Commissioners Court begins the process of approving its new maps today

From the inbox, an email from Commissioner Rodney Ellis: Every decade, after each U.S. census, states, cities and counties engage in a process called redistricting, where they adjust the boundaries of their governing districts to reflect changes in population growth … Continue reading

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I think we are going to have a regular March primary

This happened in the second special session, after the Dems came back from Washington DC. Senate Bill 13, from Senator Joan Huffman (R-Houston), has been sent to Governor Greg Abbott after being approved by the House and Senate this week. … Continue reading

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Fort Bend County Commissioners Court redistricting

From last week. Fort Bend County commissioners has formally called for the redistricting process to begin this week. The Commissioners Court will have to prepare maps of new precincts, following the 2020 census, to ensure that the boundaries retain “one-person-one-vote” … Continue reading

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Elections of interest elsewhere in Texas

Early voting has started for the special election runoff in HD118. Early voting began Monday in San Antonio to see who will replace former state Rep. Leo Pacheco, a two-term Democrat who resigned from Texas’ 118th district in August to … Continue reading

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Commissioners Court redistricting has begun

The Republicans are apoplectic. I have no sympathy. The two Republican Harris County commissioners say a proposal by Democrats to re-draw commissioner precinct boundaries will cut services and dilute the influence of conservative residents. The proposed map by Precinct 1 … Continue reading

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Comings and goings

Rep. Lloyd Doggett will run in a new district again. Longtime U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, has decided to run for reelection in Texas’ 37th Congressional District, opting to vie for one of Texas’ two new congressional districts — a … Continue reading

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Congressional map passes

And so the work is done. The lawyers are warming up their engines as we speak. The Texas Legislature has signed off on new congressional districts that shore up the GOP’s dominance and yield little ground to the people of … Continue reading

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First lawsuit filed against the redistricting maps

Why wait? We already know they suck. Before they’ve even been signed into law, Texas’ new maps for Congress and the statehouse are being challenged in court for allegedly discriminating against Latino voters. Filing the first federal lawsuit Monday in … Continue reading

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Down to the wire for Congressional redistricting

Time is running out in this session. Of course, there’s always the next session shudder. A redraw of the state’s congressional map to include a decade of population growth could be headed to last-minute backdoor negotiations after the Texas House … Continue reading

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The Lege is now 3/4 done with redistricting

All but the Congressional maps are done. They’re just plowing through it. The Texas Legislature is nearing the end of its work to incorporate a decade’s worth of population growth into new political maps — pressing forward with efforts to … Continue reading

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