2003 Texas redistricting
Encyclopedia
The 2003 Texas redistricting refers to a controversial mid-decade congressional redistricting
plan appealed to the United States Supreme Court
in League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry
. On June 28, 2006, the Supreme Court upheld the statewide redistricting as Constitutional, but struck down Congressional District 23 as racial gerrymandering in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act
.
won control of the Texas state legislature
in 2002, for the first time in 130 years, they set their sights on establishing a majority of House of Representatives
seats held by their party. After the 2002 election, Democrats
had a 17-15 edge in House seats representing Texas
, although the state's voters voted for Republicans in congressional races by an 17-15 margin. After a protracted partisan struggle, the legislature enacted a new congressional districting map, Plan 1374C, introduced in the Texas House by Representative Phil King
of Weatherford
. In the 2004 congressional elections, Republicans won 21 seats to the Democrats' 11.
The 2003 redistricting effort was extremely controversial, particularly because of the role played by Congressman Tom DeLay
. Texas had never undertaken a mid-decade redistricting that was not ordered by a court. Legal challenges to the redistricting plan were mounted on several fronts. On June 28, 2006, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an opinion that threw out one of the districts in the plan as a violation of the Voting Rights Act
and ordered the lower court to produce a remedial plan, which it did in Plan 1440C. The Supreme Court ruling was not seen as seriously threatening Republican gains from the 2004 elections.
. A redistricting occurred in 1991, when the Democrats held both the governor's seat (with Ann Richards
) and a legislative majority. By 2000, Republican George W. Bush
was governor, with Republican Rick Perry
as his lieutenant governor.
After the 2000 elections, however, Democrats maintained their majority in the Texas legislature. In 2001, the Democrats and Republicans were unable to agree on a new district map to correspond with the 2000 census. Per state law, under these circumstances, the matter could be submitted to a panel of judges. The Republican minority recommended this solution. Accordingly, the matter was forwarded for this type of review, and the judges drew a new map, which maintained a 17 to 15 Democratic majority. Under the Texas Constitution
, the Legislative Redistricting Board (LRB) convenes only when the state legislature is unable to approve a redistricting plan in the first legislative session following the National Census. In June, 2001, the redistricting task passed to the LRB after the state legislature failed to pass a redistricting plan.
In September, 2001, Texas Representative Tom DeLay
organized Texans for a Republican Majority
(TRMPAC), a political action committee designed to gather campaign funds for Republican candidates throughout Texas. TRMPAC was modeled closely after DeLay's Americans for a Republican Majority
(ARMPAC), a federal-level organization created to raise funds for Republicans during the 2000 national elections. Simultaneously, as has been well documented in the media, DeLay played a key role in the ongoing Texas redistricting effort.
In 2002, a Republican majority was elected to the State House of Representatives, giving the GOP control of both chambers. (Republicans had had a majority in the State Senate since 1997.)
During the 2003 legislative session, under the encouragement of Tom DeLay
and Governor Rick Perry
, the Republican majority introduced legislation to redraw the districts from 2001. This legislation was taken to federal court, where a three judge panel declared that it violated neither the Texas Constitution nor the Voting Rights Act. Because the Democrats did not have enough votes to stop the legislature from passing the plan, 52 Democrats from the House of Representative left for Oklahoma
in order to prevent a quorum
. These 52 Democrats were known as the "Killer Ds". They later returned to the state after receiving a promise that redistricting would not be brought up in the regular session.
In the summer of 2003, Governor Rick Perry
called a special legislative session in order to continue the redistricting effort. The Democrats had over 1/3 of the seats in the Senate and prevented the redistricting legislature from being voted on due to the two-thirds rule. After finding a way around the two-thirds rule, Governor Perry called for a second special session half an hour later. Eleven out of twelve of the Democratic Senators left for Albuquerque, New Mexico
to prevent a quorum
, and were nicknamed the Texas Eleven
. After a month-long stand off, Senator John Whitmire
returned to the Senate and the redistricting legislature was passed at a third special legislative session. After the 2004 elections, Texas's U.S. House delegation had a Republican majority for the first time since Reconstruction.
An article in the March 6, 2006, issue of The New Yorker
magazine, written by Jeffrey Toobin
, quoted Texas's junior Republican Senator John Cornyn
as saying, "Everybody who knows Tom knows that he's a fighter and a competitor, and he saw an opportunity to help the Republicans stay in power in Washington." Toobin also noted that DeLay left Washington and returned to Texas to oversee the project while final voting was underway in the state legislature, and that "several times during the long days of negotiating sessions, DeLay personally shuttled proposed maps among House and Senate offices in Austin."
Texas Monthly
editor Paul Burka, writing in the magazine's May 2006 issue, labelled the measure as "DeLay's midcensus congressional redistricting plan" and stated "in order to increase his Republican majority in Congress, he [DeLay] resorted to a midcensus redistricting plan."
In December 2005, the Washington Post reported, "Justice Department lawyers concluded that the landmark Texas congressional redistricting plan spearheaded by Rep. Tom DeLay violated the Voting Rights Act, according to a previously undisclosed memo" uncovered by the newspaper. The document, endorsed by six Justice Department attorneys, said "the redistricting plan illegally diluted black and Hispanic voting power in two congressional districts."
"The State of Texas has not met its burden in showing that the proposed congressional redistricting plan does not have a discriminatory effect," the memo noted. The article also stated that Justice Department lawyers "found that Republican lawmakers and state officials who helped craft the proposal were aware it posed a high risk of being ruled discriminatory compared with other options." Nonetheless, Texas legislators proceeded with the new plan "because it would maximize the number of Republican federal lawmakers in the state," the Post said about the document. The article also notes how the lawyers were overruled by senior officials in the Justice Department.
. Statements by some Republicans lent support to this claim, since many publicly stated their expectations of picking up several Republican seats. Some minority groups argued the plan was unconstitutional, as it would dilute their influence and possibly violate the "one-person-one-vote" principle of redistricting. Republicans counterargued, however, that since most voters in the state were Republicans, it was appropriate that the party have a majority in the federal legislative delegation.
The results of the 2004 elections brought Texas Republicans a majority of House seats by a 21-11 margin, a 2/1 ratio in terms of seats. This is bigger than the 61/38 voting ratio in the Presidential race, with former State Governor Bush, and even more than the cumulated results in the 32 House races, at 56/40/3 (with the two main parties not running in four districts).
on June 28, 2006. While the Court said states are free to redistrict however often they like, the justices invalidated Texas's District 23, citing a Section 2 violation of the Voting Rights Act
. This decision will require lawmakers to adjust boundaries in line with the Court's ruling.
On June 29, 2006, a U. S. District Judge as part of a three judge panel, under an order from the U. S. Court of Appeals, overseeing the redistricting ordered that both sides should submit proposed maps by July 14, respond to their opponents' maps by July 21, and that oral arguments will occur on August 3.
In addition, the redistricting sought to protect Hispanic Republican Henry Bonilla
(TX-23
), who had faced a stiff challenge from conservative Democrat
Henry Cuellar
in 2002, and to neutralize liberal Democrat Ciro Rodriguez. This was done by putting the two Democrats in the same district and forcing them to run against each other for the Democratic nomination (Cuellar won). In 2006, however, Bonilla's district had to be redrawn due to a Supreme Court ruling concerning the representation of Hispanic voters in redistricting. This necessitated a special election, in which Bonilla faced six Democratic candidates and an independent in a jungle primary
, and was then defeated by Ciro Rodriguez in the run-off.
Redistricting
Redistricting is the process of drawing United States electoral district boundaries, often in response to population changes determined by the results of the decennial census. In 36 states, the state legislature has primary responsibility for creating a redistricting plan, in many cases subject to...
plan appealed to the United States Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
in League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry
League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry
League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry, 548 U. S. 399 , is a Supreme Court of the United States case in which the Court ruled that only District 23 of the 2003 Texas redistricting violated the Voting Rights Act. The Court refused to throw out the entire plan, ruling that the plaintiffs...
. On June 28, 2006, the Supreme Court upheld the statewide redistricting as Constitutional, but struck down Congressional District 23 as racial gerrymandering in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act
Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of national legislation in the United States that outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the U.S....
.
Overview
After RepublicansRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
won control of the Texas state legislature
Texas Legislature
The Legislature of the state of Texas is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The Legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin...
in 2002, for the first time in 130 years, they set their sights on establishing a majority of House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
seats held by their party. After the 2002 election, Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
had a 17-15 edge in House seats representing Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, although the state's voters voted for Republicans in congressional races by an 17-15 margin. After a protracted partisan struggle, the legislature enacted a new congressional districting map, Plan 1374C, introduced in the Texas House by Representative Phil King
Phil King (Texas politician)
Phillip Stephen "Phil" King is a Weatherford, Texas, attorney who has been a conservative Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives since 1999. He represents District 61, which encompasses Parker and Wise counties to the west of Fort Worth.-Conservative legislator:King was named...
of Weatherford
Weatherford, Texas
Weatherford is a city in Parker County, Texas, United States, and a western suburb of Fort Worth. The population was 19,000 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Parker County and is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.-Geography:...
. In the 2004 congressional elections, Republicans won 21 seats to the Democrats' 11.
The 2003 redistricting effort was extremely controversial, particularly because of the role played by Congressman Tom DeLay
Tom DeLay
Thomas Dale "Tom" DeLay is a former member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1984 until 2006. He was Republican Party House Majority Leader from 2003 to 2005, when he resigned because of criminal money laundering charges in...
. Texas had never undertaken a mid-decade redistricting that was not ordered by a court. Legal challenges to the redistricting plan were mounted on several fronts. On June 28, 2006, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an opinion that threw out one of the districts in the plan as a violation of the Voting Rights Act
Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of national legislation in the United States that outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the U.S....
and ordered the lower court to produce a remedial plan, which it did in Plan 1440C. The Supreme Court ruling was not seen as seriously threatening Republican gains from the 2004 elections.
2000–2003 evolution and DeLay's role
Redistricting in Texas was traditionally done once every ten years, soon after the National CensusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
. A redistricting occurred in 1991, when the Democrats held both the governor's seat (with Ann Richards
Ann Richards
Dorothy Ann Willis Richards was an American politician from Texas. She first came to national attention as the state treasurer of Texas, when she delivered the keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Richards served as the 45th Governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995 and was...
) and a legislative majority. By 2000, Republican George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
was governor, with Republican Rick Perry
Rick Perry
James Richard "Rick" Perry is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full...
as his lieutenant governor.
After the 2000 elections, however, Democrats maintained their majority in the Texas legislature. In 2001, the Democrats and Republicans were unable to agree on a new district map to correspond with the 2000 census. Per state law, under these circumstances, the matter could be submitted to a panel of judges. The Republican minority recommended this solution. Accordingly, the matter was forwarded for this type of review, and the judges drew a new map, which maintained a 17 to 15 Democratic majority. Under the Texas Constitution
Texas Constitution
The Constitution of the State of Texas is the document that describes the structure and function of the government of the U.S. State of Texas.Texas has had seven constitutions: the constitution of Coahuila y Tejas, the 1836 Constitution of the Republic of Texas, the state constitutions of 1845,...
, the Legislative Redistricting Board (LRB) convenes only when the state legislature is unable to approve a redistricting plan in the first legislative session following the National Census. In June, 2001, the redistricting task passed to the LRB after the state legislature failed to pass a redistricting plan.
In September, 2001, Texas Representative Tom DeLay
Tom DeLay
Thomas Dale "Tom" DeLay is a former member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1984 until 2006. He was Republican Party House Majority Leader from 2003 to 2005, when he resigned because of criminal money laundering charges in...
organized Texans for a Republican Majority
Texans for a Republican Majority
Texans for a Republican Majority or TRMPAC is a general-purpose political action committee registered with the Texas Ethics Commission. It was founded in 2001 by former Republican Texas U.S. Rep...
(TRMPAC), a political action committee designed to gather campaign funds for Republican candidates throughout Texas. TRMPAC was modeled closely after DeLay's Americans for a Republican Majority
Americans for a Republican Majority
Americans for a Republican Majority was a political action committee formed by former Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and directed by Karl Gallant. On July 7, 2006 ARMPAC reached an agreement with the Federal Election Commission to pay a fine of $115,000 for various violations and to...
(ARMPAC), a federal-level organization created to raise funds for Republicans during the 2000 national elections. Simultaneously, as has been well documented in the media, DeLay played a key role in the ongoing Texas redistricting effort.
In 2002, a Republican majority was elected to the State House of Representatives, giving the GOP control of both chambers. (Republicans had had a majority in the State Senate since 1997.)
During the 2003 legislative session, under the encouragement of Tom DeLay
Tom DeLay
Thomas Dale "Tom" DeLay is a former member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1984 until 2006. He was Republican Party House Majority Leader from 2003 to 2005, when he resigned because of criminal money laundering charges in...
and Governor Rick Perry
Rick Perry
James Richard "Rick" Perry is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full...
, the Republican majority introduced legislation to redraw the districts from 2001. This legislation was taken to federal court, where a three judge panel declared that it violated neither the Texas Constitution nor the Voting Rights Act. Because the Democrats did not have enough votes to stop the legislature from passing the plan, 52 Democrats from the House of Representative left for Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
in order to prevent a quorum
Quorum
A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly necessary to conduct the business of that group...
. These 52 Democrats were known as the "Killer Ds". They later returned to the state after receiving a promise that redistricting would not be brought up in the regular session.
In the summer of 2003, Governor Rick Perry
Rick Perry
James Richard "Rick" Perry is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full...
called a special legislative session in order to continue the redistricting effort. The Democrats had over 1/3 of the seats in the Senate and prevented the redistricting legislature from being voted on due to the two-thirds rule. After finding a way around the two-thirds rule, Governor Perry called for a second special session half an hour later. Eleven out of twelve of the Democratic Senators left for Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
to prevent a quorum
Quorum
A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly necessary to conduct the business of that group...
, and were nicknamed the Texas Eleven
Texas Eleven
The Texas Eleven were a group of Texas Senate Democrats who fled Texas for Albuquerque, New Mexico for 46 days in 2003 aimed at preventing the passage of controversial redistricting legislation that was intended to benefit Texas Republicans. A group of Texas House representatives, dubbed the Killer...
. After a month-long stand off, Senator John Whitmire
John Whitmire
John Harris Whitmire is the longest-serving of current members of the Texas State Senate representing District 15, which includes much of northern Houston, since 1983. Previously he was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1973 through 1982...
returned to the Senate and the redistricting legislature was passed at a third special legislative session. After the 2004 elections, Texas's U.S. House delegation had a Republican majority for the first time since Reconstruction.
An article in the March 6, 2006, issue of The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
magazine, written by Jeffrey Toobin
Jeffrey Toobin
Jeffrey Ross Toobin is an American lawyer, author, and legal analyst for CNN and The New Yorker.-Early life and education:...
, quoted Texas's junior Republican Senator John Cornyn
John Cornyn
John Cornyn, III is the junior United States Senator for Texas, serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. He was elected Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 111th U.S. Congress....
as saying, "Everybody who knows Tom knows that he's a fighter and a competitor, and he saw an opportunity to help the Republicans stay in power in Washington." Toobin also noted that DeLay left Washington and returned to Texas to oversee the project while final voting was underway in the state legislature, and that "several times during the long days of negotiating sessions, DeLay personally shuttled proposed maps among House and Senate offices in Austin."
Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Austin, Texas. Texas Monthly is published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. and was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, Texas Monthly chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the environment, industry, and education...
editor Paul Burka, writing in the magazine's May 2006 issue, labelled the measure as "DeLay's midcensus congressional redistricting plan" and stated "in order to increase his Republican majority in Congress, he [DeLay] resorted to a midcensus redistricting plan."
Justice Department involvement
"The State of Texas has not met its burden in showing that the proposed congressional redistricting plan does not have a discriminatory effect," the memo noted. The article also stated that Justice Department lawyers "found that Republican lawmakers and state officials who helped craft the proposal were aware it posed a high risk of being ruled discriminatory compared with other options." Nonetheless, Texas legislators proceeded with the new plan "because it would maximize the number of Republican federal lawmakers in the state," the Post said about the document. The article also notes how the lawyers were overruled by senior officials in the Justice Department.
Criticism of the plan
Democrats criticized the 2003 redistricting, citing the lack of precedent for redistricting twice in a decade, considering it had already been done in 2002, and argued that it was being done for purely political gain and was therefore gerrymanderingGerrymandering
In the process of setting electoral districts, gerrymandering is a practice that attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating geographic boundaries to create partisan, incumbent-protected districts...
. Statements by some Republicans lent support to this claim, since many publicly stated their expectations of picking up several Republican seats. Some minority groups argued the plan was unconstitutional, as it would dilute their influence and possibly violate the "one-person-one-vote" principle of redistricting. Republicans counterargued, however, that since most voters in the state were Republicans, it was appropriate that the party have a majority in the federal legislative delegation.
The results of the 2004 elections brought Texas Republicans a majority of House seats by a 21-11 margin, a 2/1 ratio in terms of seats. This is bigger than the 61/38 voting ratio in the Presidential race, with former State Governor Bush, and even more than the cumulated results in the 32 House races, at 56/40/3 (with the two main parties not running in four districts).
2006 Supreme Court review
The Supreme Court of the United States issued an opinion on the case in League of United Latin American Citizens v. PerryLeague of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry
League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry, 548 U. S. 399 , is a Supreme Court of the United States case in which the Court ruled that only District 23 of the 2003 Texas redistricting violated the Voting Rights Act. The Court refused to throw out the entire plan, ruling that the plaintiffs...
on June 28, 2006. While the Court said states are free to redistrict however often they like, the justices invalidated Texas's District 23, citing a Section 2 violation of the Voting Rights Act
Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of national legislation in the United States that outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the U.S....
. This decision will require lawmakers to adjust boundaries in line with the Court's ruling.
On June 29, 2006, a U. S. District Judge as part of a three judge panel, under an order from the U. S. Court of Appeals, overseeing the redistricting ordered that both sides should submit proposed maps by July 14, respond to their opponents' maps by July 21, and that oral arguments will occur on August 3.
Democrats targeted by redistricting
The 2003 redistricting targeted ten white, Democratic incumbents avoiding all seven minority Democratic incumbents.- Max SandlinMax SandlinMax Sandlin , is a lawyer, lobbyist, American politician, and former Democratic Congressman who served eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Texas District 1....
(TX-1Texas's 1st congressional districtTexas's First congressional district in the United States House of Representatives is a Congressional district that serves the northeastern portion of the state of Texas. As of the 2000 Census, the First District represents 651,619 people...
) was defeated in 2004United States House elections, 2004Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 109th Congress were held on November 2, 2004. The House of Representatives has 435 seats. It coincided with the reelection of President George W. Bush. In the 108th Congress, Republicans held 227 seats, Democrats held 205, with two...
by Republican Louie GohmertLouie GohmertLouis Buller Gohmert, Jr. is an American politician and current Republican U.S. Representative from Texas's 1st congressional district.-Life and career:...
. - Jim TurnerJim Turner (politician)James "Jim" Turner , American politician, was the Democratic representative for the Texas 2nd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1997 until 2005.-Early life, education, and early career:...
(TX-2Texas's 2nd congressional districtTexas's 2nd congressional district of the United States House of Representatives is in the southeastern portion of the state of Texas. It stretches from Houston's northern suburbs through eastern Harris County, and across Southeast Texas to the Louisiana border...
) did not seek reelection in 2004. His seat was won by Republican Ted PoeTed PoeLloyd "Ted" Poe is a Republican politician currently representing Texas's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. The district includes most of northern Houston, as well as most of the Beaumont-Port Arthur metropolitan area. He is the first Republican to ever...
. - Ralph HallRalph HallRalph Moody Hall is a United States Representative from . First elected in 1980, Hall is the chairman of the Science Committee and a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee...
(TX-4Texas's 4th congressional districtTexas District 4 of the United States House of Representatives is a Congressional district that serves an area that includes some counties along the Red River north of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, including semi-rural Rockwall County and the large non-urbanized portion of Collin County. It also...
) changed his party affiliation to Republican and was reelected in 2004. - Nick LampsonNick LampsonNicholas Valentino 'Nick' Lampson is an American politician from the state of Texas and was a Congressman representing the 22nd Congressional District of Texas. He was defeated by Pete Olson on November 4, 2008 in his re-election bid....
(TX-9Texas's 9th congressional district-References:*...
) was moved to the 2nd District as a result of the redistricting and was defeated by Ted Poe. He relocated to the Sugar LandSugar Land, TexasSugar Land is a city in the U.S. state of Texas within the metropolitan area and Fort Bend County. Sugar Land is one of the most affluent and fastest-growing cities in Texas, having grown more than 158 percent in the last decade. In the time period of 2000–2007, Sugar Land also enjoyed a...
area in 2006 and ran for the seat being vacated by Tom DeLay (who had resigned due to pending conspiracyConspiracy (crime)In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
and money launderingMoney launderingMoney laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
charges). He won election to the heavily Republican 22nd districtTexas's 22nd congressional districtTexas District 22 of the United States House of Representatives is the Congressional district that covers a south-central portion of the metropolitan area. It includes the cities of Rosenberg and La Marque as well as portions of Missouri City and Pearland, in Fort Bend, Harris, Galveston, and...
, but was defeated in 2008 by Pete OlsonPete OlsonPeter Graham "Pete" Olson is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2009. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes much of southeastern Houston, as well as most of the city's southern suburbs such as Pearland, Sugar Land, and Pasadena.-Early life, education, and military...
. - Lloyd DoggettLloyd DoggettLloyd Alton Doggett II is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2005. He previously represented from 1995 to 2005. He is a member of the Democratic Party...
(TX-10Texas's 10th congressional districtTexas District 10 of the United States House of Representatives is a congressional district that serves the northwestern portion of the Greater Houston region stretching to the Austin area of Texas...
) was moved to the 25th districtTexas's 25th congressional district-2006 election:On June 28, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that the Texas legislature's 2003 redistricting plan violated the Voting Rights Act in the case of District 23...
, a narrow strip of land running from Austin to the Mexican border derisively called the "fajita strip." Doggett won election in the new district, which later had to be redrawn for the 2006 elections after a Supreme Court ruling finding the district boundaries violated the Voting Rights ActVoting Rights ActThe Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of national legislation in the United States that outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the U.S....
. - Chet EdwardsChet EdwardsThomas Chester "Chet" Edwards is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from Texas. He represented a district based in Waco, Texas from 1991 to 2011, and served in the Texas Senate from 1983 until 1990. He is a member of the Democratic Party...
(TX-11Texas's 11th congressional district-References:*...
) was moved into the 17th districtTexas's 17th congressional district-References:*...
, which had been made considerably more Republican in its new form. Despite this, Edwards was re-elected in 2004, 2006 and 2008. It wasn't until the 2010 elections that he was defeated by Bill FloresBill FloresWilliam H. "Bill" Flores is the U.S. Representative for . The district, located in the middle of the state, includes Waco, College Station and Bryan. He is a member of the Republican Party and the former CEO of Phoenix Exploration Company, an oil and natural gas exploration company.-Early life and...
. - Charlie Stenholm (TX-17Texas's 17th congressional district-References:*...
) was shifted into the heavily-Republican 19th districtTexas's 19th congressional districtTexas' Nineteenth Congressional District of the United States House of Representatives is a Congressional district that serves the upper midwestern portion of the state of Texas The district includes portions of the State from Lubbock to Abilene...
, and unsuccessfully ran against that district's Republican incumbent, Randy NeugebauerRandy NeugebauerRobert Randolph "Randy" Neugebauer is the U.S. Representative for , serving since a special election in 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes a large swath of West Texas, including Lubbock and Abilene...
. - Martin FrostMartin FrostJonas Martin Frost III is an American politician, who was the Democratic representative to the U.S. House of Representatives for Texas's 24th congressional district from 1979 to 2005.-Personal life:...
(TX-24Texas's 24th congressional districtTexas District 24 of the United States House of Representatives is a Congressional district that serves a suburban area in between Fort Worth and Dallas in the state of Texas...
) saw his district split off into several newly drawn Dallas-area districts intended to elect Republicans. He changed his residency to run in the 32nd districtTexas's 32nd congressional districtTexas's 32nd congressional district of the United States House of Representatives serves a suburban area of northwestern Dallas, Texas. The district was created after the 2000 census when Texas went from 30 seats to 32 seats...
and lost to the district's Republican incumbent, Pete SessionsPete SessionsPeter Anderson Sessions is a politician from the state of Texas. He is a Republican, and currently represents the 32nd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is the current Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee-Personal:Sessions was born in Waco,...
. Frost's old district, in its redrawn form, was won by Kenny MarchantKenny MarchantKenny Ewell Marchant is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2005. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes several wealthy areas around Dallas and Fort Worth.-Early life, education and career:...
, a Republican state legislator from CarrolltonCarrollton, Texas-Climate:*On average, the warmest month is July.*The highest recorded temperature was 112°F in 1980.*The average coolest month is January.*The lowest recorded temperature was 1°F in 1989.*The most precipitation on average occurs in May....
. - Chris BellChris Bell (politician)Robert Christopher "Chris" Bell is a Democratic Party politician. He last served as a one-term congressman in the United States House of Representatives from Texas's 25th congressional district in Houston from 2003 to 2005 before being defeated in the Democratic primary by Justice of the Peace Al...
(TX-25Texas's 25th congressional district-2006 election:On June 28, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that the Texas legislature's 2003 redistricting plan violated the Voting Rights Act in the case of District 23...
) had his district renumbered as the 9th districtTexas's 9th congressional district-References:*...
, which was gerrymandered into a minority-majority district. Bell lost the Democratic primary to NAACP president Al Green, who easily won the general election. - Gene GreenGene GreenRaymond Eugene "Gene" Green is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Democratic Party...
(TX-29Texas's 29th congressional district-References:*...
) was reelected in 2004. Of the Democrats affected by redistricting, Green is the only one who won reelection without being shifted to another district or changing parties. He was also the only white Democrat left among representatives from the Houston area.
In addition, the redistricting sought to protect Hispanic Republican Henry Bonilla
Henry Bonilla
Henry Bonilla is a former congressman who represented Texas's 23rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. He was defeated in his bid for re-election by Ciro Davis Rodriguez, a former Democratic member of Congress, in a special election runoff held on December 12, 2006...
(TX-23
Texas's 23rd congressional district
Texas's 23rd congressional district is the 8th largest congressional district in the country not counting at-large districts, stretching across the southwestern portion of Texas. It is a Latino-majority district and its current Representative is Republican Quico Canseco...
), who had faced a stiff challenge from conservative Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Henry Cuellar
Henry Cuellar
Henry Roberto Cuellar is the U.S Representative for , serving since 2005. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district extends from the Rio Grande to the suburbs of San Antonio, including Guadalupe County and nearby Wilson County.Outside of politics, he has served as a professor at the...
in 2002, and to neutralize liberal Democrat Ciro Rodriguez. This was done by putting the two Democrats in the same district and forcing them to run against each other for the Democratic nomination (Cuellar won). In 2006, however, Bonilla's district had to be redrawn due to a Supreme Court ruling concerning the representation of Hispanic voters in redistricting. This necessitated a special election, in which Bonilla faced six Democratic candidates and an independent in a jungle primary
Jungle primary
A nonpartisan blanket primary is a primary election in which all candidates for elected office run in the same primary regardless of political party. Under this system, the top two candidates who receive the most votes advance to the next round, as in a runoff election...
, and was then defeated by Ciro Rodriguez in the run-off.
See also
- Call of the houseCall of the houseA call of the house is a motion which can be adopted by a deliberative assembly that has the authority to compel the attendance of its members in the absence of a quorum...
- GerrymanderingGerrymanderingIn the process of setting electoral districts, gerrymandering is a practice that attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating geographic boundaries to create partisan, incumbent-protected districts...
- Killer Ds
- Texas ElevenTexas ElevenThe Texas Eleven were a group of Texas Senate Democrats who fled Texas for Albuquerque, New Mexico for 46 days in 2003 aimed at preventing the passage of controversial redistricting legislation that was intended to benefit Texas Republicans. A group of Texas House representatives, dubbed the Killer...
- Texas FiveTexas FiveThe Texas Five was a term coined for a group of five Democratic members of the United States House of Representatives from the state of Texas. They were identified in this manner because the Congressional redistricting plan passed by the Texas legislature for the 2004 elections forced these five...
External links
- Northwestern University overview on pending Supreme Court case, with extensive further links
- United States Supreme Court oral argument transcript in pending case
- Texas Redistricting U.S. Supreme Court Cases Resource Center
- Current Texas election districts
- United States District Court decision in pending litigation