Republicans in Texas opened their congressional redistricting effort with a proposal that aims to insulate GOP incumbents from the state’s rapidly diversifying electorate, while diminishing the voting power of Latinos and Blacks in the state.
Lawmakers in the GOP-controlled state Senate responsible for drawing the lines created a new solidly Democratic district in Austin but did not draw a new Latino-majority district, despite Latino population growth being the primary factor in Texas acquiring two new seats in Congress effective in next year’s election. Another new seat — Texas, the fastest-growing state in the country, won two more seats for the next decade — would be a safe Republican seat that includes a slice of Houston.
The draft map did not dramatically change the current makeup of the congressional delegation. Instead, it eliminated most competitive districts, in what appeared to be an effort to take away Democrats’ shot at flipping those seats as their populations change over the next decade.
Republicans hold a 23-to-13 advantage over Democrats in the House delegation. Under the new GOP proposal, safe Republican seats would double from 11 to 22 and safe Democratic seats would increase from eight to 12. One seat leans Democratic and two lean Republican. Toss-up seats would be reduced from 12 to one.
