Tag Archives: redistricting

Redistricting action this week

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a busy week for redistricting lawsuit action, as the federal court in San Antonio is having hearings on the proposed interim maps that were submitted by the various parties to the suits. The Statesman has an overview of the … Continue reading →

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How about we use these precincts for now?

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

And here’s an update on the county redistricting lawsuit. A federal court has asked Harris County and the plaintiffs suing it over its redistricting plan for county commissioner precincts to prepare briefs on whether it would be legal to conduct … Continue reading →

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Redistricting updates

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The redoubtable Michael Li takes to BOR to bring an update on the preclearance lawsuit in DC, in which the Justice Department has strongly contested the state’s House and Congressional maps. In papers filed [Tuesday] evening in Washington, the Department … Continue reading →

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Dan Grant forms exploratory committee for CD25

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

BOR: Dan Grant announced that he’s forming an exploratory committee for CD-25, the Congressional district that includes much of East and Central Austin. Overall, the new CD-25 includes all of Johnson, Hill, Bosque, Somervell, Hamilton, Coryell, Lampasas and Burnet Counties, … Continue reading →

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The interim plans

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Monday was the deadline for parties in the redistricting lawsuit being heard in San Antonio to file interim plans for the court to consider in the event preclearance is not granted in time for candidate filing. Texas Redistricting summarizes the … Continue reading →

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DOJ defers on County Commissioners map

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

More information, please. The U.S. Department of Justice, charged with considering whether Harris County’s redistricting map meets the requirements of the Voting Rights Act, has asked the county for more information to make its ruling. The DOJ letter is here. … Continue reading →

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Senate changes

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not worried about the State Senate becoming more conservative, I’m worried about it becoming more stupid. “A seat in the Texas Senate does not come open very often, and all of a sudden now there are four,” said Sen. … Continue reading →

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Chron overview of District J

Posted on October 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

It’s the “Latino opportunity district” that isn’t quite a Latino opportunity district. Southwest Houston was supposed to be the land of opportunity for aspiring Latino city leaders. Whether it actually starts out that way will be up to first-time candidates … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: Laster and Green

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Today is a twofer as the Chron finishes its endorsements in the district races with recommendations for the two new seats. In District J, they pick Mike Laster: District J’s inaugural City Council race has drawn three capable candidates from … Continue reading →

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Sen. Chris Harris and Rep. Will Hartnett to retire

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

One more out the door of the upper chamber. State Sen. Chris Harris, R-Arlington, announced [Monday] afternoon that he will not seek reelection — the fourth veteran lawmaker to announce their retirement from the Upper Chamber. He is the longest … Continue reading →

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Court orders interim maps drawn

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I was just asked recently what will happen if the redistricting litigation isn’t resolved before the November 14 start of the filing period for 2012 candidates. I responded that I wasn’t really sure. Shortly thereafter, this story appeared. The federal … Continue reading →

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TRO granted for redistricting plans

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Texas Redistricting: The San Antonio panel this morning enjoined provisions of the Texas Election Code requiring counties to redraw precinct boundaries by October 1 and to issue new voter registration certificates to voters by December 6. The panel also enjoined … Continue reading →

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TRO requested for redistricting plans

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Texas Redistricting: This morning, MALC and the Texas Latino Redistricting Task Force asked the San Antonio panel to enter a temporary restraining order to prevent the State of Texas from implementing its redistricting plans on the grounds that they have … Continue reading →

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Ron Paul got no respect

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Poor dear. 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 … Continue reading →

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DOJ says redistricting plans purposely discriminated

Posted on September 24, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Game on. The Justice Department said late Friday that based on their preliminary investigation, a congressional redistricting map signed into law by Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry appears to have been “adopted, at least in part, for the purpose of … Continue reading →

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Davis files anoter redistricting lawsuit

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

After the Justice Department declined to object to the new State Senate map under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, Sen. Wendy Davis filed a lawsuit in the federal court in San Antonio challenging it on other grounds. State … Continue reading →

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DOJ pushes back on State House and Congressional maps

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Good. The Justice Department said Monday that Texas’ state House and congressional redistricting plans didn’t comply with Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), indicating they thought the maps approved by Gov. Rick Perry (R) gave too little voting … Continue reading →

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The districts in dispute

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The redistricting lawsuit in San Antonio wrapped up on Friday, so at this point all we can do is wait for the three-judge panel to issue its opinion, and for the DC Circuit Court to have it say on preclearance. … Continue reading →

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My overview of the 2011 election

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Note: I was asked to write a guest post at BOR to summarize the 2011 Houston elections. I figure if I’m going to put all that effort into something, I may as well use it here, too. It’s mostly familiar … Continue reading →

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Even their own experts think the Congressional map is wrong

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Final arguments in the federal redistricting lawsuit should be heard today in San Antonio. On Wednesday, something truly remarkable happened during the testimony of the state’s expert witness: A Rice University political science professor, testifying Wednesday in a lawsuit over … Continue reading →

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Redistricting litigation gets underway this week

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Starting tomorrow, a three-judge panel in San Antonio will hear one of the two redistricting-related lawsuits that have been filed in Texas. I figure this is as good a time as any to review the landscape as we head into … Continue reading →

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What if we didn’t have to worry about county lines?

Posted on September 2, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

The federal lawsuit that will be heard by a three-judge panel in San Antonio begins next week, but in the meantime there have been depositions taken by various players, and some interesting things have come up in them. Texas Redistricting … Continue reading →

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Primary news: HD90, HD113, HCDE

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

State Rep. Lon Burnam has an opponent in March. Fort Worth School Board trustee Carlos Vasquez has announced he will challenge state Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, in next year’s Democratic primary. Vasquez, a former elementary school principal, has been … Continue reading →

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Bexar County legislative hopefuls

Posted on August 21, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Some news out of Bexar County about Democratic legislative candidates. Two former San Antonio councilmen who left office this summer because of term limits are back in politics and gearing up for their first partisan campaigns for seats in the … Continue reading →

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Jackson to run for Congress, Anderson to primary Harris

Posted on August 20, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

State Sen. Mike Jackson makes official what had been speculated. As expected, state Sen. Mike Jackson, R-La Porte, will run for Congress next year instead of for re-election to the Texas Senate. He’ll be running in the newly created CD-36. … Continue reading →

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Davis and Veasey will be allowed to intervene in redistricting litigation

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

From the Lone Star Project, via the inbox: Sen. Davis, Rep. Veasey Win Key Redistricting Ruling Federal Court rejects Texas Republican argument and grants North Texas Intervenors the right to participate in redistricting trial A group of North Texas citizens … Continue reading →

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A peek behind the scenes

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Want to know what the Republicans were thinking during redistricting? Here you go. Emails unsealed by a federal judge show that key Republicans involved in Texas congressional redistricting bickered over strategy and actively considered bypassing the Justice Department two months … Continue reading →

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Commissioners Court approves its redistricting plan, DOJ approves city’s plan

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Greg and Stace attended today’s Commissioners Court meeting, where to nobody’s surprise the slightly-less-but-still-retrogressive new redistricting plan was unanimously approved. And why shouldn’t it be? It took care of the main, if not the sole, purpose of the task, which … Continue reading →

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Taking aim at the Voting Rights Act

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

In responding to a petition by State Rep. Marc Veasey and State Sen. Wendy Davis to intervene against the state in its lawsuit to get the federal court to pre-clear the new maps, the Attorney General responded by saying that … Continue reading →

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Chron story on Harris County redistricting

Posted on August 7, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

County Commissioners are shocked and dismayed to learn that there are people who would question their ability to do whatever they want to do. The county released an amended map on Friday, having gathered community input on the initial map … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit filed against Harris County redistricting

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Hot off the presses, here’s a release from CM Ed Gonzalez: Today, Council Member Ed Gonzalez joined as a plaintiff in a lawsuit versus Harris County over the proposed Commissioners Court redistricting map. “The proposed map cracks communities of interests … Continue reading →

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Sylvia for Something

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

So many rumors, so little time. Among those voicing support for the alternative [County Commissioners] map was Sylvia Garcia, who was Precinct 2 commissioner from 2002 until this year. Garcia’s loss – by 2,310 votes – to Republican newcomer Jack … Continue reading →

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The alternative Commissioners Court map

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Opponents of the proposed County Commissioners map have presented their version in the last public hearing on county redistricting. Democrat Sylvia Garcia was Precinct 2 commissioner from 2002 until this year, having lost to Republican Jack Morman in last November’s … Continue reading →

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Lampson looking at options

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Former US Rep. Nick Lampson has said he’s thinking about running in the newly-drawn and now open CD14, but that’s not the only option he’s pondering. Lampson said in an interview that he’s received a great deal of encouragement since … Continue reading →

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