Photo: The Image Bank RF
California appears to be responding to Texas with redistricting of its own, and with more red and blue states hinting that they might be joining in, it looks like we could be heading for an all-out redistricting war across the U.S.
What many don't seem to realize is, it was Galveston County that made the first move, redrawing its county maps to abolish majority-minority, or "coalition," districts. The question is, did they know how far it would go when they did it?
According to Galveston County Judge Mark Henry, the answer is yes. He says, "I knew exactly what the implications were; this was no mystery. People act like we stumbled into this—far from it. This was very deliberate, eyes wide open. We knew exactly what we were doing."
He went on to say that anyone upset about Texas redrawing the statewide congressional maps should blame former President Joe Biden, explaining that this is all a result of the Biden DOJ suing Galveston County over its maps, resulting in a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that declared coalition districts unconstitutional. He added, "The Biden DOJ didn't have to sue us, but they did, and they lost."
Henry also added that Democrats shouldn't have been able to get away with drawing coalition districts as long as they did, saying, "Instead of saying, 'Hey guys, thanks for letting us game this system for 37 years,' now they're screaming, 'No, wait! You can't take away this legal fiction we've enjoyed for 37 years.' That's the takeaway."
Henry says it's no surprise that when you draw the maps in a deep red state like Texas fairly, they wind up favoring Republicans more than maps containing racially gerrymandered coalition districts.