Ron Paul says Republican leaders in the Texas legislature asked him how he would like his district to be changed during the recently completed redistricting process.
“So they did exactly the opposite,” the libertarian congressman told Texas on the Potomac Wednesday.
At a breakfast with reporters hosted by the Christian Science Monitor, the Republican presidential candidate described the process as “a terrible business.”
The radical redrawing of Paul’s congressional district is one of the lesser-known subplots of the Texas legislature’s 2011 redistricting wars.
You heard it here first. As Jason Stanford and Abby Rapoport note, Paul and the GOP establishment have never much liked each other, and when you have no one on your side while districts are being drawn, you tend to get screwed. No great mystery, really.
One more thing:
Paul said that despite the line changes, “it’s very possible” that he could have won re-election to Congress in 2012.
Assuming he survived a primary challenge, which would have been no sure thing for him in this new turf, I agree with this. Most likely, he would have drawn only token Democratic opposition, despite the moderately purple hue of the district. The only reason there’s even the possibility of a serious Democratic contender now is that the seat will be open. Whether you think his impending exit is a good thing or not, you have the Republicans in the Lege to thank for it..
Very little doubt, there is a strong possibility we, in Jefferson County, will go from a good conservative Republican, Ted Poe, to a carpetbagger Democrat. How wonderful.