Congressional districts in Dallas and Fort Worth won’t need to be redrawn for 2018 elections, but a federal court on Tuesday did rule that two of the state’s maps — around Corpus Christi and Austin, respectively — intentionally discriminate against black and Hispanic voters.
U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, already facing an unusually tough battle in his North Dallas district, can breathe a sigh of relief. And the court’s decision shouldn’t result in the “Armageddon map” the Texas GOP’s Washington contingent most feared. Yet the 107-page ruling is nevertheless a rebuke to state Republicans, and the two invalidated districts, the result of what the court called an “impermissible racial gerrymander,” will need to be redrawn before elections in 2018.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has three days to decide whether the state legislature will begin redistricting, or a Sept. 5 court date will start a process that has both sides redrawing the affected districts. Both sides can also still ask to take the case to the Supreme Court.
However the maps are redrawn, it should have minimal effect on the North Texas districts challenged in the lawsuit that resulted in this latest ruling, part of a six-year fight over the state’s congressional maps. The federal court in San Antonio decided, specifically, that the plaintiffs in the case did not prove that black and Hispanic residents voted “cohesively” to create a coalition district in North Texas. A challenge to a district near Houston was struck down for similar reasons.
It’s an issue that should continue to play out as Republican lawmakers in Texas work to keep their majority in a state welcoming more and more minority residents, most of whom traditionally vote Democratic.
