Burnt Orange Report

Is there a Deal?

By Byron LaMasters

School (the last week or two has been the first round of tests and papers) and work have kept me busy recently (yeah, I got a job here in Austin two weeks ago to help out with bills and spending money (that doesn't mean I still don't appreciate donations) and all since I didn't have one over the summer. I'd certainly appreciate visitors, but I'm not about to post where I work on here, so if you're interested feel free to email me and ask.). So, in case you all are wondering, that's why posting has been a little lighter recently. As for redistricting, Charles, as always, has been on top of things. Check out his post over on Political State Report today. I've also been a little quiet on redistricting, because well, there hasn't been much new news. The conference committee has been meeting with little success towards working out the west Texas and other conflicts between the House and the Senate. It seems as if there's a new twist each day, but the conflict remains the same.

However, today, it looks as if all that might be changing. The AP reports:

Senate negotiators hammering out a congressional redistricting plan today presented what they called a good solution to solve a dispute with the House over how to draw West Texas on the new map.

It was not immediately clear how the House viewed the proposal.

The plan by Sens. Todd Staples, R-Palestine, and Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, would create a district that includes the cities of Midland and Abilene. Another district would include San Angelo and Lubbock.

Republican House Speaker Tom Craddick of Midland has been pushing for a district that would make his hometown the base for a congressional seat. The existing map has Lubbock and Midland together in a district represented by U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, a rookie Republican from Lubbock.

"This is a reasonable solution to this problem," Duncan said.

I'm not sure what Robert Duncan's definition of "reasonable" is, but here's the map. It was partially inspired by yesterday's map by State Rep. Arlene Wohlgemuth. Basically what the map does is put Midland/Odessa in a district with Abilene, and Lubbock in a district with San Angelo. Currently Lubbock is paired with Midland Odessa and is represented by Randy Neugebauer. Charlie Stenholm represents the 17th district with includes San Angelo and Abilene. Duncan opposed a district that paired Abilene and Lubbock, because he feared that Stenholm (with his Abilene base) would defeat Neugebauer. This map, however puts Stenholm into the new Midland / Odessa dominated district. The map is ugly, but it just might be a compromise that Republicans can agree on.