act test The new map creates more compact districts in Houston and East Texas, including a new 36th District in Southeast Texas. It also shifts Rep. Ron Paul’s district along the Gulf Coast from Brazoria County east into Jefferson County. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, whose district now stretches to Beaumont, would represent a smaller district located only in Harris County, where Houston is located. All remain strongly Republican. Republicans argue that the Texas Legislature has carefully balanced the voting rights of minorities with their political goal of maximizing Republican representation in Congress. They point to two new Hispanic-majority districts .
one along the I-35 corridor between Austin and San Antonio and the other running south from Corpus Christi to the Rio Grande — as well as the increased Latino population in Republican Rep. Joe Barton’s district in Dallas-Fort Worth “Mid-Cities” area. The first test of the Texas plan will be at the Justice Department, which must review all Texas redistricting plans as part of the “pre-clearance” process. Democrats are convinced that the career lawyers at the Justice Department — who wanted to overturn the 2003 Texas redistricting plan but were overruled by political appointees of then-President George W. Bush — will strike down this GOP effort. Republicans are resigned to the likelihood that the state’s congressional lines will ultimately be decided by judges. Seliger concedes that whatever the Justice Department decides, “it’s going to the courts.” Seliger said he is “satisfied” that the latest plan “meets the requirements of the law.” The Senate approved his plan on a 20-12 party-line vote. The House is planning to take up the measure Thursday and is expected to breeze through.
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