Tag Archives: redistricting

Redistricting plaintiffs go for Section 3

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a brand new world out there. Minority-rights groups are charting “new territory” in the fight against Texas’ redistricting plan, using a provision of the Voting Rights Act that cites discriminatory intent as part of an effort to maintain federal … Continue reading →

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I do not expect another Ardmore

Posted on July 2, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The AusChron tries to get out the Democrats’ strategy for Special Session 2. When the Texas House convened last last month to pass, on third reading and onto the Senate for final passage, Senate Bill 5, the omnibus abortion regulations … Continue reading →

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Redistricting tango continues in San Antonio

Posted on July 2, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

More to the point, the redistricting litigation continues, at least for the time being. A panel of federal judges denied the state’s request to dismiss the case, though they left open the possibility that they could do that later. And … Continue reading →

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What the future may hold for Wendy Davis

Posted on June 28, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Patricia Kilday Hart has her take on the Wendy Davis phenomenon, including the reaction of some Republicans to it. For both proponents and opponents of SB 5, the legislation that would have banned abortions past 20 weeks of pregnancy and … Continue reading →

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The 2011 maps are officially dead

Posted on June 28, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Rick Perry has signed the redistricting bills, thus making the 2012 interim maps the official state-sanctioned maps and thus dropping any further pursuit of the maps drawn by the 2011 Lege. On Wednesday, Gov. Rick Perry signed all three redistricting … Continue reading →

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RIP, Section 5

Posted on June 26, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

By now you are well aware that SCOTUS has dealt a blow to the Voting Rights Act. They actually left Section 5, which is what requires certain parts of the country (including Texas) to get preclearance on voting-related changes, intact, … Continue reading →

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Last redistricting bill passes Senate, House debates abortion bills

Posted on June 24, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

It was destiny. The Texas Senate on Sunday wrapped up final redistricting loose ends by concurring with changes made by the House to political boundaries for the lower chamber. In an 18-11 vote, the Senate signed off on a series … Continue reading →

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House passes redistricting and abortion bills

Posted on June 22, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Texas Redistricting: The House has passed SB 3, the redistricting bill for the state house map, on third and final reading. There was one last floor amendment today offered by State Rep. Toni Rose (D-Dallas), which moved Rose’s mother and … Continue reading →

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House passes redistricting bills

Posted on June 21, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

They accepted a couple of amendments but otherwise the process wasn’t much different from the Senate or the House committee. A daylong debate on redistricting maps in the Texas House drew frustration from Democrats and growing concern from Republicans on … Continue reading →

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Maybe they shouldn’t have listened to Abbott

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

If you’re a Republican involved in redistricting and you’ve begun to wonder why you ever took AG Greg Abbott’s legal advice on redistricting, I can’t blame you. All spring, Attorney General Greg Abbott had argued to Perry, Lt. Gov. David … Continue reading →

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Getting out the “hard-to-motivate Latino vote” in Farmers Branch

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Great story about Ana Reyes, the first Hispanic person elected to City Council in Farmers Branch, in the first election after a lawsuit forced the city to adopt single-member Council districts, and how she actually got elected. “What happened here … Continue reading →

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Transportation funding advances

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Between redistricting and abortion, transportation funding has taken a bit of a back seat in the special session despite being the first additional item on the agenda. The Senate took the first step on that yesterday. Despite concerns raised by … Continue reading →

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Monday House action

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The main action on Monday in the House was the House Redistricting Committee hearing. Where there’s a redistricting hearing, there’s Greg with a liveblogging session. Pay close attention to the stuff Greg writes about the questions that the Dems, in … Continue reading →

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HISD moving forward with North Forest annexation

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Despite some legal uncertainty, they pretty much have to keep moving forward. The Houston Independent School District moved forward Wednesday with its takeover of the beleaguered North Forest school system even as state education officials prepare for a Thursday hearing … Continue reading →

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Senate approves redistricting bills

Posted on June 15, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

As pro forma as they wanna be. The Texas Senate voted to ratify court-drawn political maps that were used for legislative and congressional races in 2012. The bills now head to the House. In party-line votes, Senators voted 16-11 to … Continue reading →

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Senate committee passed redistricting bills

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

As is, no amendments. After a two-hour hearing this morning, the Senate redistricting committee voted out bills that would make the three interim legislative and congressional maps permanent. The votes on the bills were all on party lines 8-6. Greg … Continue reading →

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Redistricting deal in the works?

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Color me skeptical of this. The contours of an agreement might have emerged Monday as a special committee of the Texas House debated maps of congressional and legislative districts. A Republican lawmaker and an attorney for the Mexican American Legislative … Continue reading →

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Taking back the Texas Senate

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Colin Strother says the Democrats should not overlook opportunities to make gains in the upper chamber of the Legislature. The conventional wisdom is that Democrats need a miracle to pick up any single seat, much less turn the chamber Blue. … Continue reading →

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Weekend redistricting update

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

I couldn’t find any news coverage from Saturday’s Senate Redistricting Committee hearing at UH, so you should read Greg’s liveblog of the event to find out what happened. The roadshow is in San Antonio today, and there will be two … Continue reading →

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Feisty redistricting hearing in Dallas

Posted on June 8, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

There really aren’t any other kind of redistricting hearings, when you get right down to it. Most of the testimony centered on whether to approve interim political maps used in the 2012 elections, or toss those lines out in favor … Continue reading →

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Redistricting hearings schedule

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Attend one if you can. Senate and House committees tapped to work on redistricting during the special session Tuesday released times, locations and dates for field hearings around the state. The Senate will hold two field hearings, one in Corpus … Continue reading →

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The redistricting road show is coming

Posted on June 2, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The House Redistricting Committee is taking it on the road. Rep. Drew Darby, chairman of the House Select Committee on Redistricting, said at a hearing Saturday that he’s decided to hold informational sessions in three of the state’s largest cities … Continue reading →

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Still no call to expand the call

Posted on June 1, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Rick Perry may yet expand the call of the special session, but so far he’s sticking to his script about dealing with redistricting first. Gov. Rick Perry is leaving the door open for more items on the agenda of the … Continue reading →

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TEA insists North Forest closure moving ahead

Posted on June 1, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

TEA Commissioner Michael Williams says don’t listen to the noise, North Forest ISD will be assimilated into HISD as planned on July 1. Williams said the Texas Education Agency, which he oversees, has followed state law and has the necessary … Continue reading →

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The special session won’t be so short

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The original idea behind the special session on redistricting was that it would be a quickie – gavel in, vote to adopt the interim maps as permanent, maybe vote on a few wingnut wish list items, and gavel out again. … Continue reading →

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Justice Department engaged in North Forest closure

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

A possible ray of hope for supporters of North Forest ISD, which is still hoping to survive past July 1 when the TEA’s order for it to be subsumed into HISD takes effect. The chief of the Justice Department’s voting … Continue reading →

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Many questions at the redistricting hearing

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From the Trib: The Legislature is currently considering whether to ratify maps drawn by the three federal judges and used in the 2012 elections. It became clear during Wednesday’s hearing that the judges and the lawyers in the case agree … Continue reading →

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Why a special session on redistricting won’t resolve anything

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From Texas Redistricting: Intentional Fragmentation  In the other parts of the map, redistricting plaintiffs contend that the Texas Legislature intentionally diluted African-American and Hispanic voting strength by fragmenting cohesive communities. This fragmentation, they argue, is especially pronounced in the DFW … Continue reading →

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Calling to add to the call

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The special session is just a day old, and already legislators are lining up to extend its agenda to cover things that didn’t get done during regulation time. Senate Finance Chairman Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, and Senate Transportation Chairman Robert … Continue reading →

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Wrapping up the rest of the regular session

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

So as we now know, a special session on redistricting has been called, though we don’t yet know what if anything else may be added later. I covered that last night, so let’s cover what else got done at the … Continue reading →

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Special session is called

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

And no one is surprised. With the ink barely dry on the bills passed during the 83rd Legislature’s regular session, Gov. Rick Perry called lawmakers back into an immediate special session to consider redistricting measures for the Legislature and the … Continue reading →

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Don’t count your victories too soon

Posted on May 25, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

While I wouldn’t call this legislative session anything to be terribly happy about, it could have been far worse. That’s because a whole lot of nasty red meat bills never got voted on, and Democrats are justifiably happy about that. … Continue reading →

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Redistricting hearing set in San Antonio

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Texas Redistricting: The San Antonio court entered an order this afternoon setting a hearing for May 29 at 9 a.m. to decide what to do with the Texas maps – or, more exactly, to decide how to decide what to … Continue reading →

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Abbott predicts special session for redistricting

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

For the first time, someone says out loud the rumor of a special session on redistricting. Attorney General Greg Abbott let House members know in the Republican caucus meeting on Tuesday that he expects and is hoping for a special … Continue reading →

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