Barrientos for Congress?
By Byron LaMasters
Via the Quorum Report:
In gathering information for today's story on the potential congressional races in South Texas (see Border Buzz), QR was told by a Rio Grande Valley contact that state Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos (D-Austin) had told an Austin TV station today that he was showing interest in running District 25.
And if the new map holds, Republican Mike McCaul will run in District 10:
To clear the way for his congressional run, attorney Mike McCaul formally resigned today from his position in charge of counter terrorism in U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton's office.
Back in Dallas, Kenny Marchant has formed an exploritory committee:
State Rep. Ken Marchant on Thursday formed a campaign exploratory committee for Congress, the strongest indication yet that he plans to run for the 24th District seat now held by Arlington Democrat Martin Frost.
The GOP-controlled Legislature recently redrew the state's congressional boundaries in an attempt to add up to seven more Republicans to the Texas delegation, where Democrats hold a 17-15 edge.
"We're going to wait until the Justice Department has the final say," said Clif Wiegand, the exploratory committee manager. "After that, Kenny's going to be ready."
[...]
The new map placed Mr. Frost's home in Arlington in Republican Rep. Joe Barton's 6th congressional district. The new 24th District dropped minority neighborhoods in north Oak Cliff and southeast Fort Worth in favor of suburban cities in northeast Tarrant and northwest Dallas counties.
Political analysts say Mr. Marchant, a Republican who has served in the House since 1987, would be a formidable opponent in the race because the new district incorporates most of his legislative district, including his home in Coppell.
The formation of his exploratory committee will allow him to begin raising campaign funds.
The former Carrollton mayor already has received support from every Republican state legislator from Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties.
Posted by Byron LaMasters at October 17, 2003 12:06 AM
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state Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos (D-Austin) had told an Austin TV station today that he was showing interest in running District 25.
Despite his insistence that the new map makes it impossible for anyone but white Republicans to be elected! Such fortitude, Sen[or] Barrientos!
Now I don't know much about politics. I leave it to others to analyze the new map. But I have now heard enough to know that the Republicans have replaced a Democratic gerrymander* with one Republican gerrymander. Being as I operate on principle, I don't have a problem with either party drawing districts to their advantage.
But I do have a political problem with intentionally drawing districts to benefit a specific candidate (as was done with Marchant). This is a political disagreement, not a principled one, so I won't dwell on it. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
* I know that a court drew the map being replaced by the Republicans. Some would therefore say that the old map cannot be a "Democratic gerrymander" as I stated. But the Court itself in Balderas noted the Democratic gerrymander and also noted that it was left largely intact due to the court's reluctance to make major changes to the map. Because Balderas did not make major changes, it by necessity left the Democratic gerrymander of 1991 largely intact.
