Lawmakers send to Gov. Greg Abbott new political maps that would further solidify the GOP’s grip on the Texas Legislature
The redistricting plans for the House, Senate and State Board of Education were approved Friday. Full Story
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![The Senate floor on Jan. 13, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Texas Republicans pave way for new battleground state House district in Rio Grande Valley over local lawmakers’ objections
The likely new district comes as Texas Republicans continue to try to make new inroads in South Texas after the 2020 election. Full Story
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![The Texas Capitol on Aug. 13, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
With surgical precision, Republicans draw two congressional districts that dilute power of Hispanic and Asian voters
The GOP is losing its hold on suburbs of Dallas and Fort Worth as they grow more diverse. Two new districts show how far the party is reaching to entrench rural, white electoral power. Full Story
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![Census data from 2020 and redistricting maps at The Texas Tribune office in Austin on Oct. 7, 2021. The state population gre…]()
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Texas House passes proposed new map for chamber’s 150 districts, aiming to protect Republicans’ majority for the next decade
Members considered more than 50 amendments to the proposed map during debate that began Tuesday and ended early Wednesday. Some of the biggest changes focused on Dallas and Harris counties. Full Story
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![The House floor at the Capitol on Sept. 23, 2021.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
How a doughnut-shaped district breaks up voters of color near Fort Hood and helps House Republicans
The doughnut district would be in Bell County, a traditionally red area that has trended blue in recent years as the diverse community around the nation’s biggest military installation grows. Full Story
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![Killeen City Hall is seen on Monday, Oct. 11, 2021 in Killeen, TX. Killeen is part of a new proposed congressional district …]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
TribCast: A federal judge temporarily blocks Texas’ near-total abortion ban
In this week’s TribCast, Matthew speaks with Alexa and Reese about the ongoing court fights over Texas’ new abortion law and the redistricting process in Texas. Full Story
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![Dyan Lee and Judy Kajander hold and wear signs as they listen to speakers during the Women's March ATX at the Texas Capitol …]()
Credit: Chelsea Purgahn for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Senate approves congressional map that draws no new Black or Hispanic districts even as people of color fueled population growth
Texas gained two new seats in Congress based on population growth fueled by people of color. But the Senate’s proposal provides no new majority-Black or majority-Hispanic districts to reflect that growth. Full Story
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![The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 21, 2021.]()
Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: When Texas legislators admit they don’t know what they’re doing
When lawmakers find something in the law that they don’t like — or that their voters don’t like — they can always say they didn’t know what they were voting on. It happens more than you’d think. Full Story
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![The Texas Capitol grounds are covered in snow on Feb. 16, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas House committee advances proposed map for lower chamber
The draft, which will need a stamp of approval from the full chamber before it can head to the Senate for consideration, is likely to continue to change before the Legislature sends it to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk for a signature. Full Story
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Senate approves map cementing GOP dominance in upper chamber, dividing up Tarrant county’s voters of color
Democrats criticized Republicans for “targeting” a North Texas district that had been trending Democratic and for not drawing any new districts where people of color would represent a majority of eligible voters. Full Story
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![State Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, speaks to state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, on his resolution to declare an emerge…]()
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Two Black Houston members of Congress decry redistricting map that pits them against each other as discriminatory
Despite the objections of U.S. Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Green, the Senate committee voted out the redrawn congressional map Monday without addressing the district overlap. The map heads next to the full Senate for a vote. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, speaks as the House Judiciary Committee meets on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on…]()
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Historically red Tarrant County diversified in the last decade. Now Republicans are trying to divide up its voters of color.
Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, said the maps were drawn “race-blind.” But Democratic Sen. Beverly Powell, whose district would be turned into a majority-Republican district, said they’re an attempt to deny voters of color their voice in elections. Full Story
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![Mayor Michael Evans became the first Black mayor elected in Mansfield in December 2020. “I lived here for 32 years and serve…]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
South Texas was already a political battleground. New maps could alter game plans.
With proposed maps out, U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, says he might switch to a neighboring district where U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, is retiring. The initial maps are also sure to impact decisions in regional legislative races. Full Story
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![A neighborhood surrounding downtown Rio Grande City on Nov. 11, 2020]()
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Analysis: Texas government won’t represent the state’s population unless its political maps do
The Texas Legislature is drawing new political maps to reflect the growth of the state recorded in the 2020 census. But their initial proposals don't look like the state demographically or politically. Full Story
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![Crowds march through Austin in celebration of Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 20, 2020.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas appears to be paying a secretive Republican political operative $120,000 annually to work behind the scenes on redistricting
Adam Foltz, now on the Texas payroll, played a key role in Wisconsin's redistricting last decade. A federal court threw out some of the maps and called the effort Foltz was involved in "an all but shameful attempt to hide the redistricting process from public scrutiny." Full Story
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![The state Capitol building on Aug. 11, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
Proposed new congressional seat in Houston gets prominent GOP candidate
Wesley Hunt, an Army combat veteran who ran a close congressional contest last year in the Houston area, announced Tuesday he plans to run for the state's new 38th Congressional District in the same region. Full Story
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![Wesley Hunt, who ran for Congress as a Republican in 2020, is running for the new Houston congressional district.]()
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Senate panel advances Texas Senate and State Board of Education maps
The initial drafts of both maps have so far attempted to strengthen Republican majorities by protecting incumbents and creating more GOP-friendly districts. Full Story
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![The Senate floor on Jan. 13, 2021.]()
Credit: Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune -
GOP state Rep. Phil King announces he'll run for new Republican-friendly Senate seat held by Democrat Beverly Powell
Within half an hour of declaring his bid, King got the endorsement of the Senate's presiding officer, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Full Story
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![State Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, questions a fellow lawmaker regarding a proposed amendment to HB 10 on March 30, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas reduces Black and Hispanic majority congressional districts in proposed map, despite people of color fueling population growth
The proposed congressional map also increases the number of districts where Trump would have had a majority of voters over Biden in 2020 and protects Republican incumbents who might have been vulnerable by packing their districts with more Trump voters. Full Story
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![The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 13, 2021.]()
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Democrat Lizzie Pannill Fletcher is about to find out how badly Texas Republicans want her out of Congress
The two-term Houston representative holds a congressional seat with a storied Republican lineage. With the GOP-controlled Legislature about to release new district maps, some expect they will try to wrest the seat back into their column. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Lizzie Pannill Fletcher in her office in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 21, 2021.]()
Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune
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