The Justice Department says there are plenty of indications that the Texas redistricting maps signed by Gov. Rick Perry had the effect, and indeed the intent, of limiting the power of Hispanic voters.
“Federal lawyers contended in the newest filing that there is ‘ample circumstantial evidence of a discriminatory purpose with regard to both the State House and Congressional plans’ and that in the new maps nearly half a million fewer Hispanics would live in districts where they would have the ability to elect a candidate of their choosing,” Ryan J. Reilly reports on Talking Points Memo.
Not only that but, according to lawyers in the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, race and ethnicity “were common themes during discussions between the Republican leadership and others, including a United States Congressman and staff.” Oh, the Congressman referred to is Rep. Joe Barton, who happens to be of Republican persuasion and is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which oversees the DOJ.
All this has surfaced in connection with a lawsuit contending that Texas officials have tried to dilute the voting power of Hispanic voters in violation of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. While it would be irresponsible to speculate on the motives of parties involved in a lawsuit, it is true that people of Hispanic descent tend to vote Democratic. And, it must be said, Democrats are trying to redraw maps to their advantage in states where they are in power.
At the moment, the Lone Star State’s two senators, John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison, are Republicans. So are 23 of the state’s 32 members in the House of Representatives. And Republicans are in solid control of both houses of the State Legislature. So one need not be cynical to suspect that Republicans are intent on keeping their power, now that the once-a-decade blood sport of redistricting, based on new federal census figures, is under way.
Redistricting is sometimes referred to as “gerrymandering,” although that word has a pejorative ring. For those who slept through ninth-grade civics class, the word was coined thanks to Elbridge Gerry, a Founding Father who was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, governor of Massachusetts and vice president of the United States.
Anyhow, Gerry once had a big hand in drawing a political district that someone said looked like a salamander. No, someone else wittily rejoined. It looks more like a gerrymander. By the way, Gerry’s political affiliation is sometimes described as “Democratic-Republican,” although the labels of the 18th Century don’t translate easily into those of the present.
Fast-forward to today, and the question arises: Will the Texas litigation make for awkwardness whenever DOJ lawyers appear before Barton’s committee?
