Over the past decade, the Lone Star State became more urban and less white, according to census data released last week. Dallas County gained nearly 250,000 residents, and Frisco and McKinney are among the country’s top 10 fastest-growing municipalities.
In a tweet, Gov. Greg Abbott bragged on his home state.
“Texas leads America in population growth—nearly 4M new Texans since 2010, a faster rate than CA & NY combined,” Abbott said. “Our state is the best place to live, work, & raise a family.”
Leading up to the 2020 election, Democrats insisted that Texas would turn blue, but the GOP retained a majority in both chambers of the state Legislature. And even though Texas is becoming more diverse, Republicans still control the legislative redistricting process.'Census Data Shows 4 of Nation's 10 Fastest-Growing Municipalities Are in Texas’
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) August 17, 2021
Texas leads America in population growth—nearly 4M new Texans since 2010, a faster rate than CA & NY combined.
Our state is the best place to live, work, & raise a family.https://t.co/icJQrPyNub
There aren’t many guardrails in place around redistricting in Texas, said Michael Li, senior counsel for the Brennan Center's Democracy Program. After the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013, it effectively created a more favorable environment for legislators to get away with partisan gerrymandering.
Even if some maps ultimately get clawed back or struck down through the court system, Li said it could be a years-long process. In the meantime, Texas would be able to use aggressively drawn maps for an election cycle or two before any changes could be made.
Still, Congress could pass voting rights safeguards such as the For the People Act, which would strengthen protections for people of color, he said. But the clock is running out on that possibility, and absent federal intervention, Democrats could have difficulty gaining control of the state Capitol.“We are in an environment where members of the Legislature get to choose their constituents, rather than their constituents ultimately choosing the members of the Legislature.” – State Rep. Rafael Anchía
tweet this
Democrats only get roughly a quarter of the white vote in Texas, and they often live in the same neighborhoods — or even homes — as Republicans, Li said.
“So unless you’re gerrymandering down somebody’s bed, it’s really hard to move the dial that much,” he said.
Even though Dallas County gained nearly a quarter-million people, it still may lose a state representative, said Democratic state Rep. Rafael Anchía, chair of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus. Many of Texas’ suburbs are in “hypergrowth,” with both Denton and Collin counties experiencing a 36% increase in population.
Urban areas are solidly blue, but suburban areas have also begun trending that way, said Anchía, who’s a member of the state House redistricting committee. Meanwhile, rural areas continue to bleed red and have been overrepresented in redistricting to preserve Republican majorities.
Anchía has long called for an independent redistricting commission, but so far, such efforts have stalled. Moving forward, he’s asking his GOP colleagues to not get greedy when redrawing the lines.
Last month, Anchía fled with his colleagues to Washington, D.C., where they’ve been calling on Congress to pass the For the People and John Lewis Voting Rights acts. Absent such federal protections for Texas voters, he said he suspects redistricting will be about “partisan power.”
“We are in an environment where members of the Legislature get to choose their constituents,” he said, “rather than their constituents ultimately choosing the members of the Legislature.”
