Houston Chronicle: Over 1 million Houston voters change congressional districts under GOP redistricting plan

Houston Chronicle: Over 1 million Houston voters change congressional districts under GOP redistricting plan

“With 95 percent of Texas population growth in the last decade coming from communities of color, our new congressional districts clearly should have been created to provide them the ability to elect their candidates of choice,” said Anthony Gutierrez, the executive director of the good government group Common Cause Texas. “That did not happen because these mapmakers prioritized the interests of their own political party over those of Black and brown Texans.”

The initial Republican proposal for redrawing Texas congressional maps calls for Harris County to once again be split into nine districts, but with major alterations to protect the region’s endangered GOP incumbents.

The shifts mean more than a million voters who live west of downtown Houston would have a different member of Congress representing them. …

Redistricting analysts, in early assessments of the draft map on Monday, said the proposal shores up GOP-led districts, protects sitting lawmakers and packs heavily Democratic areas to give Republicans an advantage elsewhere. The Princeton Gerrymandering Project gave the proposed map an “F” grade for its fairness, concluding that the districts give a “significant advantage” to Republicans.

Although a growing population of Hispanics is largely responsible for Texas adding two additional congressional seats, neither of the two new districts is majority Hispanic under the GOP proposal, prompting outcry from anti-gerrymandering advocates.

“With 95 percent of Texas population growth in the last decade coming from communities of color, our new congressional districts clearly should have been created to provide them the ability to elect their candidates of choice,” said Anthony Gutierrez, the executive director of the good government group Common Cause Texas. “That did not happen because these mapmakers prioritized the interests of their own political party over those of Black and brown Texans.”