Texas redistricting solidifies Hispanic vote

[Judi Lynn]

Texas redistricting solidifies Hispanic vote
Region near Mexican border reunited into one congressional district
Updated: 32 minutes ago

AUSTIN, Texas - A three-judge federal panel on Friday reunited Webb County into one congressional district, solidifying Hispanic voting strength in South Texas.

The U.S. Supreme Court remanded the map to the three-judge federal panel to redraw the sprawling 23rd District, which it ruled unconstitutionally diluted Hispanic voting strength.

"These changes restore Latino voting strength to District 23 without dividing communities of interest," the judges said.

The panel reunited Webb County, which includes Laredo, and placed it in the 28th Congressional District, which is adjacent to the 23rd District. It added portions of Bexar County, which includes San Antonio, to the 23rd District.
(snip/...)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14188613/

[raindrop]

1. question about TX-21

From that article: The new plan also moves Kerr, Kendall, Bandera, and Real counties into the 21st Congressional District, represented by Republican Lamar Smith of San Antonio.

TX-21 is my district. Can anyone say how this will change its complexion, i.e. does it make it more conservative than it is now?

[Weembo]

2. Those are quite conservative counties

[NoPasaran]

3. Here's a link to the map

http://gis1.tlc.state.tx.us/plans/planC01438/viewer.htm?Title=PLAN%2001438C%20-Court-Ordered%20Districts%20LULAC%20v.%20Perry

The bad news is that it looks like I won't get to help John Courage kick Lamar Smith's withered ass in November.:cry:

The good news is it looks like I'm back in Lloyd Doggestt's district!:bounce:

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

4. But won't Doggett now be toe to toe with a Latino candidate

in a largely Latino district?

[NoPasaran]

5. I doubt it

Doggett's district is now more compact and contains more of Travis County, where we luuuuurve him. He lost a big portion of the Hispanic part of his 2004 district, which stretched down to the border on the old map.

Here's a link to more info, including a comparision between the old maps and the new. Doggett is CD-25.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

7. Ahh I see

I was on the phone with one of his staffers visiting your state the other day ...so that person must be quite pleased.

[NoPasaran]

8. No doubt

There had been some concern over a map submitted by thge Texas GOP which would have cut Doggett completely away from Travis County, but in the end that wasn't what the judges ordered.

[Dover]

12. And he's gained alot of new exposure as a result of the initial

redrawing debacle, so ultimately he's gained a larger base among Latinos that will serve him well now and in the future, I'd think.

[Judi Lynn]

6. GOP hurt by redrawn Texas district

GOP hurt by redrawn Texas district
By APRIL CASTRO, Associated Press Writer
13 minutes ago

AUSTIN, Texas - Three federal judges on Friday reunited a south Texas county into one congressional district under a Supreme Court-ordered map revision, a move that solidified Hispanic voting strength and made one Republican incumbent's re-election campaign more difficult.

Several districts were affected by the plan, but no House incumbent was bumped into another district. The judges emphasized that they made the minimal changes possible to fix the violations ordered by the Supreme Court.

The revision came after the Supreme Court in June found that the congressional map drawn by Republican state lawmakers in 2003 unconstitutionally diluted Hispanic voting power by dividing Hispanics in Webb County into two different districts represented by GOP Rep. Henry Bonilla (news, bio, voting record) and Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar.

The new map places Webb County, which includes Laredo, entirely in Cuellar's district.

Bonilla's district is now more evenly divided between Democratic and Republican voters. Bonilla, whose support among Hispanic Democrats has been dropping, also is seeing his district's Hispanic voting-age population rise from 51 percent to 61 percent.
(snip/...)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060804/ap_on_el_ge/redistricting_texas

[OKNancy]

9. kick

[Omaha Steve]

10. Court redraws 5 Texas congressional districts

Full story: http://reuters.excite.com/article/20060804/2006-08-04T230918Z_01_N04266174_RTRIDST_0_POLITICS-TEXAS-DC.html

Court redraws 5 Texas congressional districts
Email this Story

Aug 4, 7:09 PM (ET)

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Court redrew the boundaries of five south and west Texas congressional districts on Friday to restore political power to Hispanic voters.

The three-judge panel, appointed by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, vacated primary elections of candidates in the districts and said primary elections would be held simultaneously with the general election on November 7, according to the decision.

If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote in a district, a runoff election will take place on a date to be set by the Texas secretary of state.

The court's new electoral map fulfills instructions from the U.S. Supreme Court when it ruled in June that a controversial 2003 congressional redistricting by the Texas Legislature was constitutional except for the dilution of Hispanic voting power in the 23rd Congressional District.

Most affected by the change, according to political analysts is Republican Rep. Henry Bonilla's 23rd District, which saw the number of Democratic voters increase by 8 percent under the congressional district map issued on Friday.

[napi21]

11. Henry Bonilla. That's San Antonio isn't it?

I used to live in San Antonio. I don't remember the district #'s but I remember Henry!

[Blaze Diem]

13. Does it say anywhere who the Federal Judges were?

I know one Fed Judge, but he's from Dallas.
Just curious..Did I miss the names of these three or were they not listed?