“I am deeply disappointed in Governor Abbott. At a time when our state’s focus should be on large scale issues like recovery from the disastrous flooding our state has experienced, and expanding childcare capacity, Governor Abbott is instead capitulating to Donald Trump and doing Trump’s bidding by adding Congressional redistricting to the call for the Special Session.
This is nothing more than a naked power-grab by the Republicans through the Governor’s call, at Trump’s behest. I served during the mid-decade redistricting of 2003, and this smells far worse than that did because the order for this one is coming from Donald Trump, not even our own Texas delegation. This naked power grab could result in less representation for ethnic minorities, and in districts that are further cracked and packed to deliberately dilute the voting strength of Black and Brown Texans.
The governor claims that the US Department of Justice has raised concerns about our existing maps. ‘What concerns,’ I ask? I am aware of no concerns having been articulated to our state concerning our present Congressional maps. If history is any indicator of redistricting sessions, the citizens of Texas–as well as my legislative colleagues–need to be prepared for prolonged sessions!”
