New Texas maps: Doom for Democrats — or do they hold a hidden prize?

30.08.2025    Salon    2 views
New Texas maps: Doom for Democrats — or do they hold a hidden prize?

New congressional maps about to be adopted in Texas which aim to replace as several as five Democratic-leaning seats with likely Republican seats are primarily aimed at protecting the GOP s slender majority in Washington But they also have the promising to push outgoing Democratic House members selected observers suggest into statewide races in The new maps passed by the GOP-dominated state legislature which now await Gov Greg Abbott s signature will force a number of sitting Democratic legislators to make arduous choices Chosen may retire from Congress others will run in newly-created districts against a favored Republican and others will be forced to face a fellow Democratic incumbent in dog-eat-dog primaries in redrawn districts Two of the map s new districts have been drawn to pack multiple more likely GOP voters into traditionally blue districts along the U S -Mexico margin Three others are designed to dilute Democratic votes in three of the state s largest metropolitan areas potentially flipping one district from blue to red in Austin in greater Houston and in the Dallas-Fort Worth area Related Texas redistricting fight was a testing ground for the Trump administration s latest legal strategy Along the edge Reps Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez both moderate Democrats will now need to seek re-election if they choose to run in redrawn districts where Donald Trump won in by about percentage points Rep Greg Casar a progressive Democrat will see his district which presently stretches from Austin to San Antonio redrawn to include more conservative rural areas around the latter city It will also become a district where Trump prevailed by -plus points In the Houston area Rep Al Green will see his current district where more than percent of residents are people of color teleported to the city s northeastern suburbs a much less diverse area that Trump carried by about points Rep Julie Johnson who now represents Texas nd district in and around Dallas will see it expanded to incorporate territory to the east of the city creating a new district that Trump carried by points In these five seats where incumbents will be forced to decide whether to quit or run again in unfriendly terrain only one situation has been resolved Rep Lloyd Doggett a -year-old Democrat who has served in Congress for more than years communicated last week that he plans to retire if the new maps are upheld Casar the current chair of the House Progressive Caucus has already communicated that he will run in the newly redrawn th district in Austin which will retain a likely Democratic lean In the other districts however there s no simple cure We need your help to stay independent Subscribe this day to endorsement Salon s progressive journalism The Dallas-Fort Worth area will now have two blue-leaning districts The th district now represented by Rep Jasmine Crockett will remain largely unchanged from the previous map The open question is whether Johnson will switch from her new GOP-friendly district to the rd and run there against incumbent Democratic Rep Marc Veasey In Houston there will now be two Democratic leaning seats the th district currently held by Rep Sylvia Garcia and the th which is vacant after the death of Rep Sylvester Turner earlier this year He had replaced veteran progressive Rep Sheila Jackson Lee who died in the summer of There s a faint silver lining for Texas Democrats facing gerrymandered districts They could forge new careers and energize the base by pursuing statewide office Green whose district has now been redrawn says he won t resign his current seat to run in the th district special electoral contest this November but may run for that seat next year depending on what other candidates emerge In the South Texas territory line districts there s no clear path for Democratic incumbents Cuellar and Gonzalez to remain in office at least not without overcoming a essential Republican advantage Cuellar has suggested that he may run for re-election in the newly Republican-friendly th district in comments to Spectrum News noting that although Trump did well there Democrats also enjoyed particular down-ballot success Cuellar is widely viewed as the preponderance conservative Democrat now in Congress Gonzalez has not yet stated whether he plans to run again in the redrawn th district If he does his likely opponent will be former Rep Mayra Flores a Republican who briefly held the seat after a special balloting Start your day with essential news from Salon Sign up for our free morning newsletter Crash Curriculum Joshua Blank director of research for the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin reported in an interview with Salon that there is one faint silver lining for House Democrats facing gerrymandered districts They could forge new careers and energize the base by pursuing statewide office While next year s U S Senate race in Texas is gaining all the attention because of the intra-GOP battle between Sen John Cornyn and scandal-plagued state Attorney General Ken Paxton Blank announced The reality is there s a whole ticket to fill out Someone demands to run against the governor Someone should be running against the lieutenant governor Someone requirements to run that attorney general s race There are already certain broadcasted Democratic candidates in those races but a sitting member of Congress would likely have a higher statewide profile and could potentially run a competitive race None of the Democrats right now stated as gubernatorial candidates for instance has held elected office before While GOP gerrymanders have locked in control of the state legislature and the congressional delegation races for statewide office are often fairly close calls So one of the questions Blank suggested is whether any of these people consider running jumping to a statewide referendum even if it s just to build up your base fight the good fight and then turn back around and figure out what you re doing next Read more about the gerrymander battle Texas House passes Trump-approved gerrymandered congressional maps Democrats perhaps can t win the redistricting wars Liberation Day Newsom calls for special electoral process to make good on redistricting threat The post New Texas maps Doom for Democrats or do they hold a hidden prize appeared first on Salon com

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