德克萨斯州奥斯汀——面对德克萨斯州繁荣的郊区变得越来越蓝，共和党人周一提出了新的美国众议院地图，这将加强他们不断下滑的控制，并减少大多数选民是西班牙裔的席位数量——尽管它们推动了该州的快速增长。
德克萨斯州是2020年人口普查的大赢家。在近200万新西班牙裔居民的推动下，该州人口激增，成为唯一一个获得两个额外国会席位的州。德克萨斯州现在将有38名众议院议员和40张选举人票。
但民主党人和少数权利团体指责共和党地图绘制者抛弃了那些威胁共和党数十年统治地位的快速变化的人口趋势。在过去的十年里，每10个德克萨斯州新居民中就有9个以上是有色人种，但该提案将拉美裔占多数的地区从8个减少到7个。
根据提议的地图，也不会有黑人居民占多数的地区，这些地区可能会进行修改。但是在得克萨斯州国会大厦，人数超过民主党的人没有权力强制进行激烈的变革。
“这是不公平的，也是不正确的，这样做既不符合德克萨斯人的利益，也不符合美国人的利益，”拉丁美洲公民联盟主席多明戈·加西亚在谈到地图如何划分西班牙裔选民时说。
总的来说，共和党人在提议的地图下表现出一种压倒一切的愿望，那就是保护他们近24名现任众议院议员，而不是从民主党手中夺走席位。一个明显的例外是在得克萨斯-墨西哥边境，共和党人受到前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)2020年在那里的强势表现的鼓舞，将目标对准了目前由众议员维森特·冈萨雷斯控制的民主党长期据点。
同样在周一，俄勒冈州立法机构通过了国会地图，其中包括该州在最新人口普查后获得的第六个新的美国众议院席位。由民主党控制的众议院和参议院以党派路线投票通过的新地图可能会为该州的多数党增加一名美国众议院代表。边界包括四个美国众议院席位，要么是安全的民主党席位，要么是倾向于该党的席位，一个可靠的红色席位，一个可能是决定性的席位。
在佐治亚州，佐治亚州的一些州参议院共和党人发布了一份提议的地图，该地图可能会将佐治亚州14个国会席位中的一个席位从民主党转移到共和党。共和党现在拥有8-6的多数席位，低于2010年后的10-4。该提议似乎给了共和党更大的机会赢得亚特兰大郊区的国会选区，该选区目前由民主党人露西·麦克巴斯控制。除了改变麦克巴斯的第六区，该计划将使现在竞争激烈的亚特兰大郊区第七区对民主党人卡罗琳·布尔多更加安全。佐治亚州众议院议员将有自己的提议，两院必须在11月3日重新划分选区的会议开始时达成一致。
这些地图是得克萨斯州和佐治亚州的共和党人运用新的更自由的手段重新设计政治边界的产物:50多年来，一些州首次在没有联邦监督的情况下开始重新划分选区。最高法院2013年的一项裁决取消了联邦政府对德克萨斯州、佐治亚州和其他14个有投票歧视历史的州的全部或部分新地图的强制性批准。
自1965年选举权法案法案通过以来，每隔十年，法院或司法部都会裁定得克萨斯州的重新划分计划违反了联邦法律——部分原因是将倾向于民主党的拉丁裔选民分散在由倾向于共和党的非拉丁裔白人居民主导的多个地区。
无党派研究机构普林斯顿选区划分项目的高级法律策略师亚当·波多维茨-托马斯说:“看起来他们把更多的民主党选民聚集到更少的选区，并把共和党选民分散到更多的选区。”。
他说，德克萨斯州的多个选区似乎已经被吸引，包括60%至70%的安全多数共和党选票份额，这将保持共和党的控制。但波多维茨-托马斯说，该州自由派首府的一个新国会选区是“民主党的选票池”，这将通过吸收一些左倾选民来隔离周围的共和党众议院议员。
休斯顿另一个提议的新选区将选出一名共和党人，这意味着两党将瓜分德克萨斯州的新席位。共和党目前在德克萨斯州有23个众议院席位，而民主党有13个。
拉丁裔支持者和官员认为，这些数字要求在达拉斯地区周围的德克萨斯州至少有一个新的拉丁裔占多数的国会席位，但没有一个席位被包括在共和党的第一次通过中。德克萨斯州蓬勃发展的郊区，包括美国10个发展最快和迅速多样化的城市中的4个，将因更多来自周边农村地区的选民而得到加强。
得克萨斯州共和党战略家布伦登·斯坦豪泽说，这些地图反映了坚持政治权力的动机。他指的是共和党众议员迈克尔·麦考尔(Michael McCaul)提议的新选区，该选区的席位将受到休斯顿快速变化的选民郊区选民流失的冲击。
“我认为这将避免一些我们已经看到了一段时间的紫色趋势，”他说。
这些地图是德州共和党人运用更自由的手段重新设计政治边界的产物:50多年来，德州首次在没有联邦监督的情况下启动了重新划分选区的进程。最高法院2013年的一项裁决取消了联邦政府对德克萨斯州和其他15个有投票歧视历史的州的全部或部分新地图的强制性批准。
共和党地图绘制者公布的德州重划区是起点，在送交共和党州长格雷格·艾伯特签字之前，可能会在未来几周发生变化。
作为美国最大的红色州，共和党人希望扩大他们的政治优势，因为他们在得克萨斯州典型的指挥胜利已经变得越来越少。去年，特朗普以比得克萨斯州更大的优势拿下俄亥俄州，共和党人在2018年受到了惊吓，当时民主党人掀翻了十几个州议会席位，贝托·奥鲁克差点将参议员特德·克鲁兹赶下台。
但共和党人在2020年在德克萨斯州站稳了脚跟，鼓励他们启动激进的保守决策议程，而在以西班牙裔为主的南部边境取得的进展也促使共和党试图扩大影响力。
Texas GOP tries to protect US House seats under new maps
AUSTIN, Texas -- Facing up to Texas' booming suburbs turning bluer, Republicans on Monday proposed new U.S. House maps that would fortify their slipping grip and shrink the number of seats where the majority of voters are Hispanic — even as they fuel the state's blistering growth.
Texas was a big winner in the 2020 Census. Its surging population, driven by nearly 2 million new Hispanic residents, made it the only state awarded two additional congressional seats. Texas will now have 38 House members, and 40 electoral votes.
But Democrats and minority rights groups accused GOP mapmakers of tossing aside those rapidly shifting demographic trends that are threatening decades of Republican dominance. Persons of color accounted for more than nine of every 10 new Texas residents over the last decade, but the proposal reduces the number of Hispanic majority districts from eight to seven.
There would also be no districts with a majority of Black residents under the proposed maps, which are likely to undergo revisions. But outnumbered Democrats in the Texas Capitol have no power to force drastic changes.
“It is not fair, it is not right, it is not Texan or American to do that,” said Domingo Garcia, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, referring to how the maps divide up Hispanic voters.
On the whole, Republicans showed an overarching desire under the proposed maps to protect their nearly two dozen incumbent House members rather than peel away seats from Democrats. One notable exception is along the Texas-Mexico border, where Republicans — encouraged by former President Donald Trump’s strong showing there in 2020 — are taking aim at a longtime Democratic stronghold currently held by Rep. Vicente Gonzalez.
Also Monday, the Oregon Legislature passed congressional maps that include a new, sixth U.S. House seat the state gained following the latest census. The new maps, passed by the Democratic-controlled House and Senate by party line votes, could net the majority party in the state an additional U.S. House representative. The boundaries include four U.S. House seats that either are safe Democratic or lean in the party’s favor, one reliably red seat and one seat that could be a toss-up.
And in Georgia some state Senate Republicans in Georgia released a proposed map that could shift one of Georgia’s 14 congressional seats from Democrats to Republicans. Republicans now hold an 8-6 majority of the seats, down from 10-4 after 2010. The proposal appears to give the GOP a better chance of winning a suburban Atlanta congressional district now held by Democrat Lucy McBath. Beyond changes to McBath’s 6th District, the plan would make the now-competitive suburban Atlanta 7th District much safer for Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux. Georgia state House members will have their own proposals and the two chambers must agree when a redistricting session begins Nov. 3.
The maps are the product of Texas and Georgia Republicans wielding a newly freer hand to reengineer political boundaries: For the first time in more than 50 years, some states are starting the redistricting process without federal oversight. A Supreme Court ruling in 2013 removed mandatory federal approval of new maps for Texas, Georgia and all or parts of 14 other states with a history of discrimination in voting.
In every decade since the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, courts or the Department of Justice have ruled that Texas’ redistricting plans violated federal laws — partly by scattering Democratic-leaning Latino voters among multiple districts dominated by non-Latino white residents who lean Republican.
“It looks like they packed more Democratic voters into fewer districts and sort of spread the Republican voters across more districts," said Adam Podowitz-Thomas, senior legal strategist at the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, a nonpartisan research organization.
He said multiple Texas districts seemed to have been drawn to include a safe 60% to 70% majority Republican vote share that would preserve GOP control. But a new congressional district in the state’s liberal capital was a “Democratic vote sink," said Podowitz-Thomas, one that would insulate surrounding Republicans House members by taking some of their left-leaning voters.
Another proposed new district in Houston is drawn to elect a Republican, meaning both parties would split Texas' new seats. Republicans currently have 23 House seats in Texas, while Democrats have 13.
Latino advocates and officeholders believed the numbers demanded at least one new Latino-majority congressional seat in Texas, around the Dallas area, but none was included in the Republicans' first pass. Booming suburban districts in Texas, which include four of the 10 fastest-growing and rapidly diversifying cities in the U.S., would be fortified with more voters pulled from surrounding rural areas.
Brenden Steinhauser, a GOP strategist in Texas, said the maps reflect a motivation to hang onto political power. He pointed to the proposed new district of Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, whose seat would be buffeted by shedding voters in Houston's fast-changing voters suburbs.
“I think this will stave off some of this purple trending we’ve see for a while,” he said.
The maps are the product of Texas Republicans wielding a freer hand to reengineer political boundaries: For the first time in more than 50 years, Texas is starting the redistricting process without federal oversight. A Supreme Court ruling in 2013 removed mandatory federal approval of new maps for Texas and all or parts of 15 other states with a history of discrimination in voting.
The redrawn Texas districts unveiled by Republican mapmakers are starting points and will likely undergo changes in the coming weeks before being sent to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott for his signoff.
Republicans in America's biggest red state want to expand their political advantage as their typically commanding victories in Texas have become thinner. Last year, Trump carried Ohio by a wider margin than Texas, and Republicans got a scare in 2018 when Democrats flipped a dozen statehouse seats and Beto O'Rourke nearly ousted Sen. Ted Cruz.
But Republicans held their ground in Texas in 2020, emboldening them to mount an aggressive agenda of hot-button conservative policymaking, and gains along the predominately Hispanic southern border have spurred the GOP into trying to expand their reach.
