Yesterday morning, the state House Committee on Redistricting and the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting released what's known as PlanC125 -- or the Solomons-Seliger Congressional Proposal -- which you can see here. Today, Houston Chronicle Washington bureau chief Rick Dunham, a 30-year veteran of the puzzling process, breaks it down for us. Long story short: "It's about as pro-Republican as is possible." You don't say. Anyway. Far as Dunham's concerned, this is how Dallas and Fort Worth fare in the process so far, which Rick Perry's added to the special session's to-do list:
Contrary to expectations of almost everybody, the new map does not create a "safe" Hispanic Democratic seat in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. At best, the mapmakers created an opportunity for a D-FW Latino to compete for the 6th District seat now held by Republican Joe Barton of Ennis.
Fort Worth/Tarrant County Republicans are big winners. They get a new district even though the Houston suburbs had greater population growth. But Tarrant County had the political juice.