| In advance of the 2010 census, the ensuing Congressional redistricting is already garnering significant national attention. Texans need to pay particularly close attention to this process, as we're expected to gain between 3 and 5 Congressional seats due to population growth in the Lone Star state. Meanwhile, the memory of the 2004 gerrymander is still fresh in our minds, when Tom DeLay and his cronies redrew district lines that flipped the Texas congressional delegation from 17-15 Democratic to 21-11 Republican.
The New York Times reports on a Federal lawsuit set to be filed in Mississippi, which focuses on the discrepancy in population between Congressional districts. While Wyoming's at-large district contains only 523,000 constituents, Nevada's 3rd contains a whopping 960,000. At the core of the lawsuit is the difference in citizens' voting power: a Wyoming voter has nearly 100% more influence on the outcome of the election, and thus more per capital representation in Congress. FYI, the national average is approximately 700,000 constituents per district. From the Times article:
"We have tripled our population since 1910," said Jane S. De Lung, president of the Population Resource Center, a nonprofit research organization that sponsored the conference. Members have trouble staying in touch with so many constituents, she said, and the population is only growing further. "If you can't do it with 700,000, how in the world are you going to do it with 1 million?"
A valid question, particularly as the cost of mounting a Congressional campaign continues to skyrocket. As districts hold increasing numbers of voters, the cost to contact them increases as well. Larger districts, both in terms of area and population, make grassroots campaigns increasingly challenging to pull off. The lawsuit also suggests expanding Congress to at least 932 members.
Meanwhile, a documentary currently in production plans to take a look at what the filmmakers call "the partisan conspiracy of redistricting." The film, entitled Gerrymandering, is set for a 2010 release, and will look at line-drawing situations across the US. The filmmakers have conducted a pretty impressive series of interviews with politicians, activists, and researchers. Hopefully the film can help educate the American public about the process and impact of line-drawing. After all, partisan power-grabs that disenfranchise voters aren't cool, no matter who's doing the grabbing. Speaking of partisan power-grabs, here's an example that hits close to home for those of us in Austin:
 An ugly picture of a beautiful city, this map shows how the 2004 redistricting chopped up Central Austin into three different districts. Note, furthermore, that this map was drawn after fixing the 25th District, which ran from Austin to the Mexican border, and it's still pretty messed up. The liberal area around UT is shoved into conservative Republican Lamar Smith's 21st District, while Michael McCaul's 10th District swings down to usurp the Allandale area, and then jumps the Colorado River to grab parts of West Lake. Heck, stand at North Lamar and 29th, and you're at the intersection of three different districts. The lines dilute, or "crack," the strong liberal voting bloc here in Austin. While our city voted over 66% for Barack Obama, only one third of our Congressional representation is Democratic.
Of course, this only underscores the importance of the Democratic Party regaining control of the Texas House in the 2010 elections, in order to have a real voice in the redistricting process. Enter the DLCC's new website, Redistricting Facts. The site is designed to serve an educational purpose, and help voters understand how they might be impacted by the redistricting process. It's a great resource to share with folks who are just getting educated about the process. You can follow the DLCC and Redistricting Facts on Twitter at @DemLegislators and @Redistricting, respectively.
Invigorated attention on our pending redistricting is a good start to preventing the highly partisan gerrymander that happened in 2004. And as well all know, taking back the Texas House will go even farther to making sure that it doesn't happen again. |
