In Texas, Gerrymandering IS a Republican Thing

In a recent letter to the Editor (“Gerrymandering not just a Republican thing”), the author cites Texas’s House District 35 as the “grand-daddy” of gerrymandered districts. I won’t argue with that.

However, he seems to be implying that this was a Democratic gerrymander designed to protect Congressman Lloyd Doggett. Nothing could be further from the truth.

HD 35 was drawn in 2011 by the Republican-controlled legislature. It was invalidated by a federal court panel in 2017, which ruled that it was an impermissible racial gerrymander. That decision was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2018. The lawsuit was based on a claim that by “packing” Hispanic voters into HD35, they were depriving Hispanic voters of opportunities in the sur rounding districts. The 5-4 Supreme Court decision said that (for reasons too technical for me to understand) the district did not violate the Voting Rights Act.

Another goal of the redistricting was to unseat Lloyd Doggett by encouraging potential Hispanic challengers. But that is political gerrymandering, an area the courts refuse to adjudicate.

I am not familiar with the other districts cited by the author as Democratic gerrymanders, but they were all drawn by a Republican-controlled legislature.

If a Texas Democrat holds a seat in a contorted district, it is probably the result of Republican “packing and cracking.”

Robert Smith