Census data shows Texas to get 4 more House seats
AUSTIN, TX
The release of population numbers, announced at the National
Press Club in Washington, begins what figures to be a politically
divisive process in the nation's second-largest state on how to
divvy up the seats.
Boyd Richie, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, said
Hispanic and black population growth account for the additional
seats, and he vowed to fight for a redistricting plan that takes
their numbers into account.
"A legal and fair redistricting process must produce new
congressional districts that reflect the Hispanic and African
American population growth," Richie said. "Our Democratic numbers
may be down, but we are not out. Democrats cannot and will not
allow our voices to be silenced in this critical process."
But with Republican supermajorities in the Legislature, the
temptation to run the table will be strong. Rep. Pete Gallego,
D-Alpine, said if the federal courts don't intervene to compel
fairness, Republicans will likely produce a map that gives their
party the advantage in three or perhaps even all four of the new
seats.
"It is very easy to overreach when you're holding the map and
have the pen in your hand," he said.
Although Texas Republicans have fortified their already strong
hold on the state Legislature with landslide victories in the
November election, they won't have unchecked authority to draw the
state's congressional map to benefit the GOP.
Civil rights laws require that the interests of minority voters
be protected as district boundaries are redrawn, and Texas is one
of the states whose redistricting plans require "pre-clearance"
by federal authorities under the Voting Rights Act.
Because much of the population growth came among Hispanics, who
have traditionally tended to favor Democrats, experts expect at
least one or two of the new seats will need to be Hispanic-leaning
to clear the federal law. Democrats are also counting on an assist
from the Obama Administration, which could have a significant voice
in the pre-clearance process.
It is the first time since the Voting Rights Act passed that the
Justice Department will be in Democratic hands during the
redistricting process.
Hispanic growth doesn't automatically translate into Democratic
growth, either. Two heavily Hispanic Congressional seats in South
Texas flipped to Republicans this year, and there are several new
Latino GOP members about to be sworn into legislative seats.
There are 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, and
every 10 years they have to be reapportioned according to
population changes. Twelve seats shifted this year, mostly out of
the industrial northeast and Midwest toward the southern and
western states.
Texas, which grew by more than 20 percent over the last decade,
was one of eight states that picked up seats in Congress. Ten
states lost influence in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Louisiana, which people fled in droves after Hurricane Katrina, was
the only southern state that will lose a seat in Congress. New York
and Ohio were the biggest losers of all, coughing up two seats
each.
Their loss was the Lone Star State's gain: Florida, which picked
up two seats, was the second-highest gainer after Texas. All other
states increasing their influence in Washington gained a single
Congressional seat.
"Texas gained the most seats this decade, a total of four, and
indeed that state has gained seats for seven consecutive decades,"
said Census Director Robert Groves.
Each congressional district will contain a little over 700,000
people.
Census officials in February will begin releasing detailed
demographic data, down to the block level, allowing state
legislators to decide how to draw new boundaries for themselves,
Congress and other elective offices that are divided up into
districts.