Redistricting
McLennan County remained in district 17, which, in the new map, lost college station and gained a large section of East Texas.
Texas Republicans pass new maps
Greg Abbott signed a new Congressional, State House, State Senate, and State Board of Education district maps for Texas into law on October 25th, 2021. These maps waere passed along partisan lines within both state houses. Republican legislatures, who were solely in charge of the redistricting process at the state level, opted to solidify their position in our state, creating many heavily republican districts through the use of gerrymandering. McLennan County remains in congressional District 17. Our district gained a large portion of East Texas, and from which the Bryan/College Station area was removed, aggressive gerrymandering that made our congressional vote more favorable to Republicans.
McLennan County also remains in state Senate District 22, though the district has changed significantly to include more of Mansfield and Arlington to the north and now goes as far west as Stephenville and Eastland. McLennan County was split between state House districts 22 and 12, but now is split between districts 22 and 13. The northern corner of McLennan County, which includes West, has been moved to be included in House District 22, while the Eastern quarter of the county shifts from state House District 12 to 13. These heavily gerrymandered maps were made to secure a Republican majority in the congressional representatives from our state for the next decade, but we must work to change that here in McLennan County and statewide.
Normally, to see which districts you now live in, visit https://wrm.capitol.texas.gov/home. This website might take some time to be updated, so in the meantime, please use this helpful tool.
Texas Gains two congressional seats
Every ten years, the US Census collects population data from across the nation and releases a reapportionment of congressional seats based on each states’ population at the start of the decade. As a result of the most recent census, Texas has been allotted two additional congressional seats, which will require the state to redraw congressional lines in a process called redistricting.
Redistricting in Texas is passed like any other law; it requires approval of both houses and approval from the governor. However, if the legislature is unable to pass new redistricting plans before the end of the first regular legislative session after the census data is released, the redistricting falls into the hands of the Legislative Redistricting Board (LRB). The LRB is comprised of the lieutenant governor, the attorney general, the speaker of the house, the comptroller, and the commissioner of the general land office who are all currently republicans, including Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is currently under FBI investigation. If this group is also unable to come to an agreement on a new redistricting map, the Texas courts will draw a new map.
A History of Gerrymandering
The history of redistricting in Texas has been riddled with gerrymandering along both political and racial lines. In 1975, the preclearance requirement in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was extended to Texas because of our state’s history of discriminating against racial minorities, especially Mexican-Americans and black Americans. This provision, Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, required voting changes, including redistricting, in states with histories of racial discrimination to be approved by the Attorney General or the US District Court for Washington DC.
“Section 5 was enacted to freeze changes in election practices or procedures in covered jurisdictions until the new procedures have been determined, either after administrative review by the Attorney General, or after a lawsuit before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, to have neither discriminatory purpose or effect.”
Since 1975, Texas has been found in violation on the Voting Rights Act during redistricting every single decade because of racial gerrymandering at the district level. However, in 2013, the Supreme Court ruled in Shelby County v. Holder that Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, the provision that provided the formula for which state and local governments needed preclearance, was outdated and unconstitutional. As a result, this next redistricting session will be the first that Texas is not required to have the districts precleared through Washington DC, which allows Republicans to draw districts that essentially erase minority representation in the State of Texas.
Historically, conservatives in both parties have been guilty of using gerrymandering to try to suppress minority votes, who generally vote more progressively. The ruling party in Texas has long been conservative, with conservative Democrats holding power and using racial gerrymandering consistently until the 1990s and early 2000s when the remaining conservative Democrats switched parties to join the new conservative Republican majority in our state, handing Republicans complete control. As modern liberal Texas Democrats, we recognize the damage that racial gerrymandering has caused and the error of our party for using it in the past as we seek to fight against current Republican efforts to suppress minority votes through the use racial gerrymandering and other restrictive voting policies.
Read more on redistricting and gerrymandering:
Texas Redistricting and Gerrymandering