(The Center Square) – Texas House Democrats who oppose Congressional redistricting in the state that a bill introduced by state Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, filed because the Trump Department of Justice sent a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott expressing concerns about the 2021 map. The 2021 plan is currently in litigation, which Abbott, the attorney general and Republican lawmakers argue is constitutional and legal.
Abbott added redistricting to the special session to consider “a revised congressional redistricting plan in light of constitutional concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Justice,” The Center Square reported.
At the last Texas House Select Committee on Redistricting hearing before HB 4 advanced out of committee, Hunter rebuffed the Democratic narrative, saying the DOJ letter had nothing to do with his redistricting efforts.
He says he worked on the redistricting maps with Austin-based law firm, Butler Snow, after voter demographics shifted in the 2024 election. The proposal is in accordance with a 2019 Supreme Court ruling, a Fifth Circuit redistricting ruling and is compliant with the 1965 Voting Rights Act, he said.
When asked about the DOJ letter, Hunter said, “I keep hearing about a letter. All I know is we’re here by proclamation of the governor. Now, what the letter has to do with it, I got no personal knowledge. I will tell you I don’t know what that has to do with this. That wasn’t part of me. All I know is we had a special session call.”
He later added, “the Department of Justice letter was a letter. That’s not guiding me. I’m presenting a plan, and they [the DOJ] can then review the plan. If they believe that I’ve addressed issues, good. If they believe I haven’t, good. But whatever they’ve sent, I’m not ignoring it, I’m not accepting it. I’m doing this plan. Whatever their involvement is they just sent a letter as far as I’m concerned.”
Hunter also said that Texas’ population has increased, voter demographics shifted more Republican since 2021, the legislature has the authority to redistrict at any time, and House Democrats were involved in the 2021 redistricting plan.
Lawsuits filed over the 2021 redistricting plan didn’t stop it from going into effect, he added. “Nobody has thrown the plan out. It’s pending in a federal jurisdiction, so when people say there are errors, that hasn’t been determined,” he said. He also said that since 2021, “laws changed, populations changed, trends have changed.” To suggest there were errors is “drawing conclusions that haven’t occurred.”
“I want to remind a lot of the people on this dais,” he said to Democrats. “I’ve got a pretty good memory. And I remember the vote in 2021, and I remember who came in and agreed with the amendments in 2021. So, when I hear [from Democrats] ‘the 2021 map was faulty,’ why did I accept those amendments and agreements from both parties? So, we’re going to be transparent.”
Hunter said Democrats “keep bringing up race. But I want to remind you and everybody on this dais who came to me in 2021 to make changes, [asked him to] do them favors. I don’t want to hear that I and the Republicans were the only ones that did these maps. I had some of you come in and thank me for the maps. Now am I going to disclose the representatives’ names or senators here today? No, because that’s a private conversation. But when you knock me and the Republicans … I want everybody to know that I worked with both sides and incorporated a lot of their information.
“So, if there’s a race issue, the Democrats were involved with the Republicans in putting that together. So that’s all I’m saying, let’s be transparent.”
The plan redraws 37 of Texas’ 38 congressional districts, The Center Square reported. Primary changes focus on five districts for partisan purposes, Hunter said. Four of five new districts are majority minority districts, which each now trend Republican. The redistricting “doesn’t guarantee electoral success but it does allow Republicans to compete in these districts,” Hunter said.
The new districts are CD 9-Houston, CD 28-Rio Grande Valley, CD 32-Dallas, CD 34-Coastal Bend and CD 35-San Antonio. The new districts are primarily Hispanic majorities that lean Republican based on recent voting records, Hunter said.
In 2021, there were nine Hispanic majority voting age districts, now there are 10, he said. In 2021, there were no majority Black population districts; under the new proposed plan, there are two. Under the new proposal, CD 18 is now 50.8% Black majority, up from 38.8% in 2021. CD 30 is now 50.2% Black majority, up from 46% in 2021, he said.
“It’s a good plan for Texas,” Hunter said.
The plan breaks up districts by county population percentage and by race (Anglo, non-Anglo, Asian, Black, Hispanic, Black and Hispanic).
The plan doesn’t change the number of districts but creates new openings by moving incumbents to different districts, opening up seats in CDs 7, 9, 20, 30, 32, 34 and 35, shifting some incumbent Democrats to compete against each other, The Center Square reported.
The outcome could result in Republicans gaining five seats.
