New congressional maps in Texas are raising debate over whether minority groups, which account for most of the state’s population growth, will gain voting influence
AUSTIN, Texas—Texas is emerging as a central test of whether the nation’s minority residents, who account for all U.S. population growth over the past decade, will gain additional voting clout as statesTexas added more residents in the past 10 years than any other state, earning two additional seats in Congress. Hispanic, Black, Asian-American and other minority groups accounted for about 95% of the growth,.
“It’s that kind of aggressiveness and callousness toward the growth patterns of Texas that will be challenged in court,” said Jason Villalba, a former Republican state representative who is now an independent. In Colorado, Latino-rights groups have asked the state Supreme Court to reject a congressional map drawn by an independent commission, which they say would fracture the Latino vote in violation of the state constitution. In Arkansas, the GOP-led legislature approved a map that divides the county with the most Black and Hispanic residents into three House districts. Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, said that feature raises concerns and that he would let the map become law without his signature.
Arlington, a diverse suburb of 400,000, would be split into four congressional districts under the proposal. Under the proposed plan, Adom African Market in Arlington would be within blocks of two other congressional districts, but would share its district with rural voters hundreds of miles away. “In all the conversations I’ve ever had with Republican operators, I’ve never heard anyone say, ‘We should cut out [minority] voices,’ ” said Brendan Steinhauser, an Austin-based GOP political consultant. “The motivation for these maps is more political, more partisan.
But in other places, civil-rights groups say, white voters still overwhelmingly back different candidates than those favored by minority voters. If minority voters there are divided among multiple districts, the white majority will always overrule the minority’s voting choices.
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