It’s basic civics: the U.S. Constitution requires a national population count, or census, to be conducted once a decade in order to determine the apportionment of congressional districts. In the case of Texas in 2011, the issue of legislative redistricting, despite its profound implications for the practical workings of democracy (not to mention the ability of certain minority groups to be represented by the elected officials of their choosing), has so far had to take a back seat to the ongoing wrangling over the state budget—a sign of the unprecedented fiscal crisis confronting the state. But previous redistricting battles offer a prelude to what Texans can expect in the coming months.
Casual political observers got their most recent taste of partisan redistricting in 2003 when a Republican majority was able to push through a controversial mid-decade redistricting plan—fought by numerous advocacy groups including the Texas NAACP and Texas League of United Latin American Citizens—that sent more Texas Republicans to Congress in 2004. But a pair of North Texans on the House Redistricting Committee, Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Ft. Worth) and Rep. Roberto Alonzo (D-Dallas), insist that concerned Texans can’t afford to lose sight of the fact that more than just partisan advantage can be lost for those who end up with the short end of the redistricting stick.
“There is a lot of partisan activity that goes in with redistricting,” said Rep. Veasey. “But my biggest concern—Republicans may be concerned with what happens from a partisan standpoint—I’m going to be concerned about minority representation and increased minority representation specifically. The growth in the state of Texas has been Hispanic and African-American. I was looking at a report from the Brookings Institute, and the Dallas-Ft. Worth is the fastest-growing area for Hispanics and the second fastest-growing area in the country for African-Americans. And so what’s driving new political opportunities in the Metroplex are African-Americans and Hispanics.”
Rep. Alonzo agrees. “First of all, the process allows for two major things to be considered: how the population has grown and how the lines should be drawn. This is where we’re at right now after the census came out,” said Alonzo. “What we [consider] in drawing the lines is drawing lines that are fair and—what I’ve consistently said in addition—what’s legal. In redistricting the Legislature is allowed to draw the lines for the districts, but because of the history of the South and the Southwest showing discrimination against minorities and the way the lines are drawn the other factor that has to be considered is what’s legal, aside from [what’s] fair.”
“The reason we’re obligated to do that is because in 1975 we added Texas to the Voting Rights Act, which says that you cannot have the drawing of lines that discriminate against minorities. So we have two microscopes—one is the Legislature, and the other is the courts through the Voting Rights Act,” Alonzo said.
Texas is now a majority Black and Hispanic state, according to the 2010 census. In the opinion of both Alonzo and Veasey, true evidence of fairness in political representation is not the number of minority-opportunity districts staying the same, but growing.
“The worst-case scenario is what we have now,” said Alonzo. “Because of the growth of the population of Hispanics throughout the state the worst scenario is that there is no growth in the number of opportunity districts where Hispanics can get elected. Over the last 10 years, the growth in the Hispanic population was three million. Because of the growth, the census allows us to have four more congressional districts. The worst-case scenario is to keep what we got; the best is to have more opportunities.”
In fact, a key difference between now and 2003 is that in 2003 the state’s changing demographics hadn’t yet been made official. Using a map based on the 2000 census, Republicans were able to redraw districts to maximum partisan advantage. Despite their overwhelming majority, most agree that an altogether different set of circumstances confronts Republicans this time around.
“That’s why we have two microscopes,” said Alonzo. “The majority of the House and Senate is Republican, and the governor is Republican, and they get to define what’s fair because they have a supermajority in that category. They can do what they think is fair, but they need to take into consideration what’s legal, because we’re going to end up in court and the courts are going to fix that problem.”
Alonzo himself is a product of redistricting. In 1991 the Legislature created a district in Alonzo’s North Oak Cliff area that was successfully challenged in court on the grounds that it diluted the voting strength of Hispanics in the area. “Lo and behold, I had an opportunity to get elected,” Alonzo said.
The subject of redistricting can be complicated for the layperson. Among all the other considerations, preserving—if not increasing—the number of “minority-opportunity” voting districts is the most important for those who worry about protecting the political power of Blacks and Hispanics. The hope for racial justice advocates is that the discourse surrounding the issue rises above partisan bickering and reflects what they feel is truly at stake.
“The key, really, and what they’re going to be looking for, is does a district have the opportunity the candidate of their choice? It doesn’t matter what the race of the candidate is,” Veasey explains. “That’s really important when you start to talk about minority-opportunity districts. You want to show that the minority numbers in the districts are enough so that the Black or Hispanic community can elect the candidate of their choice.”
“Were there no Hispanic and African-American growth in the Metroplex we wouldn’t have all these new opportunities. And so that’s what I would like to see, that the new opportunities are spread out equally.”
It’s not just congressional and state elections that are shaped by the redrawing of districts. At public forums such as February’s Texas Legislative Black Caucus legislative summit, the ability of Black county and local officials to hang onto political power has also emerged as a key concern.
“It’s really important just because so many things that people can relate to on an everyday basis are done on the county and municipal level, and so I would say that people need to watch very closely,” said Veasey. “Dallas probably doesn’t need to grow their city council, but I know that in Ft. Worth, because of all the growth that we’ve had, we probably do need to grow our city council. And so that’s going to be something for people to watch, and then as cities grow you want to make sure that communities of interest are still protected, that they’re not split up, and that African-American and Hispanic seats are protected and, when possible, that new seats are added.”
Just as critical for African-Americans is the composition of state boards such as the State Board of Education (SBOE), which oversees public education and exerts tremendous influence over what and how Texas schoolchildren are taught. In a redistricting hearing last Friday, Alonzo objected to proposed SBOE district maps on the grounds that Hispanics were inadequately represented.
“"The SBOE district maps that were laid out earlier today concern me for a number of reasons. I am of the position that all districts that are drawn, regardless of what geographic region of the state they represent, should be fairly and equitably representative of the constituency base and demographic population they represent,” said Alonzo in a press release just after the hearing.
“Our latest census numbers have proven that Latinos and other ethnic minorities make up the majority of Texas, as well as our growing school age population. Thus, I firmly believe that our SBOE districts should mirror those same demographic changes if we are to be effective in electing policymakers who will be most effective in addressing the educational needs of all our students, particularly Latinos and other minorities."
Alonzo singled out a proposed District 1, which covers West Texas, as an example, noting that it decreases the Hispanic voting age population by 4.4 percent compared to the district map already in use. He asserts that this would constitute “illegal retrogression” under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
Even for those with some knowledge of the racial history of the South and Southwest, the importance of how district lines are drawn can be less than obvious—at least until particular court cases allow the issue to erupt into public view. If that happens, Veasey is confident that minority voting rights will receive a fair hearing from the Obama Justice Department, and that future presidential administrations, be they Democrat or Republican, will steer clear of the partisanship that many believe hobbled the Bush Justice Department.
“This Justice Department is going to be fair; the last Justice Department was not fair,” said Veasey. “The people that President Bush appointed to run the Justice Department were partisan hacks that were kind of reckless and out-of-control, and I think that this Justice Department is going to be straight-up and fair. I don’t think that anyone down here is counting on them for help, [but] they’re going to be fair.”
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