5 things to know about the redistricting battle in Texas and beyond
2. Mid-decade redistricting has happened in Texas and elsewhere
Mid-decade redistricting is not a new phenomenon, especially in Texas. In 2004, after the Republican Party took control of the Texas Legislature, they redrew the state’s congressional map to make it more favorable to Republicans.
As explained in the 2006 U.S. Supreme Court decisionLeague ofUnited Latin American Citizens et al. v. Perry, Governor of Texas, et al. that challenged the new maps, the previous map favored Democratic candidates as it was created by a federal court in response to a stalemate between Republican Gov. Rick Perry, the Republican-controlled Texas Senate and the Democrat-controlled Texas House of Representatives.
The 2002 map was largely based on the one implemented in 1991, when Democrats controlled the Texas Legislature. In the 2002 election, under the court-approved map, Democrats won 17 of the state’s 32 congressional districts. Following the 2004 election, which took place after Plan 1374C was implemented, Republicans won 21 out of the 32 seats.
In most cases, mid-decade redistricting takes place as the result of a court order. Most recently, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the 2023 decisionAllen v. Milligan that Alabama’s congressional map that consisted of six white-majority districts represented by Republicans and one black-majority district represented by a Democrat violated the Voting Rights Act by disenfranchising black voters. It upheld a lower court opinion ordering the creation of a second majority-minority district.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
