NPR (AUDIO): Redistricting: What Happens When The Party With Power Gives Themselves More

NPR (AUDIO): Redistricting: What Happens When The Party With Power Gives Themselves More

STEPHANIE GOMEZ: So, you know, we got the text. Like, the maps are out. These are the maps that we have been waiting for. CHANG: Stephanie Gomez is associate director of Common Cause Texas, a nonprofit that works on issues like voting and elections. She was waiting eagerly on Monday when Republican state lawmakers released their first draft of the new congressional map. GOMEZ: I don't know if I'm allowed to cuss, but it was very like, oh, hell, like, it's - the maps are out. It was just - everyone open up the maps, and let's just - let's take a look at everything. CHANG: So remember all that population growth we mentioned in Texas? It's been driven almost entirely by people of color. And it's the reason that Texas next year will gain two more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, where seats are allocated by state population. GOMEZ: Of course, our eyes were like, OK, we're supposed to get two opportunity districts for minorities. Let's see where they end up putting those. CHANG: When Gomez got a closer look at the new Texas maps, she saw what many Democrats expected and feared. You see, the state's new map would actually reduce the number of congressional districts where voters of color are in the majority, and the map would protect Republican incumbents who might have been vulnerable by packing their districts with even more Trump supporters. The Princeton Gerrymandering Project, which grades redistricting maps on things like how compact or competitive the districts are, gave the Texas congressional map a flat-out F. GOMEZ: It's so hard to be a Texan who is fighting for an equitable democracy. Like, we are constantly being met with our deepest, worst fears.

CHANG: It’s CONSIDER THIS FROM NPR. Another reason redistricting is a big deal is that it only happens once every 10 years. That is when, according to a process laid out in the Constitution, states redraw the lines that define congressional and state legislative districts. They do that using data they receive from the U.S. Census. But the process is not only data-driven. You see, the Supreme Court has ruled that it is perfectly legal for the party in power to draw lines according to its own political interest, meaning it can use redistricting to split up voters of the opposing party in ways that make it harder for the opposing party to win majorities from district to district. And while some states do use independent commissions to draw district lines, in many states like Texas, the party in power draws maps that shore up its political power for a decade.

STEPHANIE GOMEZ: So, you know, we got the text. Like, the maps are out. These are the maps that we have been waiting for.

CHANG: Stephanie Gomez is associate director of Common Cause Texas, a nonprofit that works on issues like voting and elections. She was waiting eagerly on Monday when Republican state lawmakers released their first draft of the new congressional map.

GOMEZ: I don’t know if I’m allowed to cuss, but it was very like, oh, hell, like, it’s – the maps are out. It was just – everyone open up the maps, and let’s just – let’s take a look at everything.

CHANG: So remember all that population growth we mentioned in Texas? It’s been driven almost entirely by people of color. And it’s the reason that Texas next year will gain two more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, where seats are allocated by state population.

GOMEZ: Of course, our eyes were like, OK, we’re supposed to get two opportunity districts for minorities. Let’s see where they end up putting those.

CHANG: When Gomez got a closer look at the new Texas maps, she saw what many Democrats expected and feared. You see, the state’s new map would actually reduce the number of congressional districts where voters of color are in the majority, and the map would protect Republican incumbents who might have been vulnerable by packing their districts with even more Trump supporters. The Princeton Gerrymandering Project, which grades redistricting maps on things like how compact or competitive the districts are, gave the Texas congressional map a flat-out F.

GOMEZ: It’s so hard to be a Texan who is fighting for an equitable democracy. Like, we are constantly being met with our deepest, worst fears.

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