Electoral Repercussions: GOP Redistricting

You knew it was coming, and, now it’s here:  Gerrymandering time! The GOP is set to control much of the redistricting for future electoral boundaries all over the country, The Washington Post took a look at what this will mean, specifically, for Texas.

But first, I’d like to take a moment to remind everyone that Texas is changing in a big way not only demographically, but consequently, politically also. Everyone likes to think of Texas as a big, neat, red state. But, if you take a look at the 2008 presidential results, you see that’s not the case. John McCain won in Texas with 55% of the vote to Barack Obama’s 44%, according to CNN. And in the recent gubernatorial race, Republican achichintle Rick Perry recently won 55% of the vote to Democrat Bill White’s 42%.

Does that sound like an overwhelmingly “red” state to you? It doesn’t to me.

So, this is the GOP’s challenge in Texas, according to The Post: Although they are currently the majority, because of the Voting Rights Act (silly legislation!) and the fact that Texas’ growth has come from mostly minority communities that tend Democratic, the GOP is going to have to try extra hard to gerrymander their way into the 3-4 seats Texas is set to gain.

Anyways, there’s a long, boring and detailed analysis by The Post here, if you care to read more. The important thing for most of us to do is to stay informed about what our respective legislatures are doing when it comes to redistricting because this affects us now, in the immediate future and (for those of us who have them) our children’s’ future. Ten years ’til the next Census is a long time away…