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By Tom Elia
June 9, 2003
The New Editor
(This column was originally published in the Houston Chronicle.)
The state of Texas needs to redraw its congressional districts.
That the Republicans control the Texas Senate, the House, the governor's office and the rest of the other 28
statewide offices should indicate to any reasonable observer that the Democrats are no longer the majority
party in Texas.
Yet, despite this, the Democrats control a majority of Texas' U.S. House districts.
Could it be that, against this backdrop, the Democrats won a majority of the U.S. House vote in Texas in the
last election?
Well, not quite.
In 2002, Democrats received 44 percent of the aggregate vote total in Texas U.S. House races, yet won 17
of 32 seats, or 53 percent, of Texas' congressional delegation.
None other than the Almanac of American Politics -- considered by many to be the bible of American
politics -- said of the situation before the 2002 election: "Texas' current congressional districting plan was
the shrewdest gerrymander of the 1990s. The original 1991 redistricting plan was the product of Bob
Mansker, an aide to Democratic Congressman Martin Frost, and put into law when Democrats controlled
the Legislature and the governorship. While modified in 1996 by court ruling, it is still in effect for 17 of the
30 districts, and has not been much changed for the others. The plan carefully constructs Democratic
districts with incredibly convoluted lines and packs heavily Republican suburban areas into just a few
districts."
To see the results of this redistricting plan, look at the aggregate U.S. House vote between 1992 and 2002:
In 1992, the last time the Democratic Party won the aggregate U.S. House vote, the Democrats, with just
under 50 percent of the vote, won 21 of 30 House races, or 70 percent of House seats (the Republicans got
just under 48 percent of the vote, winning 30 percent of the seats).
In 1994, the Democrats got 42 percent of the congressional vote, winning 19 out of 30 seats, or 63 percent
of U.S. House seats (the Republicans received about 56 percent of the vote, winning about 37 percent of
U.S. House seats).
In 1996, the Democrats won 45 percent of the U.S. House vote, holding onto 17 out of 30 congressional
districts, or 57 percent of U.S. House seats (Republicans won 53 percent of the vote total, but just 43
percent of congressional districts).
In 1998, the Democrats received 44 percent of the total congressional vote, holding on to 17 out of 30 seats
again, resulting in the same 57 percent of U.S. House seats (Republicans won about 52 percent of the
congressional vote total, again winning 43 percent of congressional districts).
In 2000, the Democrats won about 48 percent of the vote, again holding onto 17 of the 30 seats (the
Republicans won about 49 percent of the U.S. House vote).
In 2002, the Democrats received 44 percent of the vote, winning 17 out of 32 U.S. House seats, or 53
percent of Texas' U.S. House seats (the Republicans won 53 percent of the vote).
In the last six U.S. House races, the Democrats won the aggregate vote total only once, in 1992, (never
winning a majority of the total vote during that span), yet have never held less than 53 percent of all of
Texas' U.S. House seats -- not a bad congressional map for Democrats.
In 2002, a total of nine Texas congressional candidates (five Democrats and four Republicans) ran
unopposed or faced a third-party candidate; the three candidates who ran unopposed were all Democrats.
The Democrats drew a great congressional map for themselves in 1991, but political realities in Texas have
changed, and since that redistricting, the Democratic Party has lost its political hold on the state.
By 2000, the Republicans controlled the governor's mansion, with the Texas Legislature split between the
two parties (the Republicans controlled the Senate and the Democrats controlled the House).
However, no agreement about congressional redistricting was reached in the Texas Legislature, and the
matter was thrown into the federal courts.
A three-judge panel made no major changes to Texas' congressional map, other than adding the two
additional districts warranted by Texas' population growth between 1990 and 2000.
Contrary to what many claim, the three-judge panel did not redraw congressional districts in any meaningful
way. The result was that the Democratic Party's redistricting plan from the 1990s was basically left intact.
Then, in 2002, the Republican Party won the Texas House for the first time since Reconstruction. This, in
addition to controlling the state Senate and the governor's office, enabled the Republicans to control
redistricting.
But when confronted with the possibility of congressional redistricting in the last legislative session, 54
Democrats chose to walk out of the Texas House to prevent a quorum, and therefore a vote on the issue.
This action kept the 1991 redistricting, drawn up by the Democratic Party, in effect.
Why should the Democrats, out of the majority in Texas for the first time since Reconstruction, be able to
keep such advantageous congressional districts for themselves?
It's time to redraw Texas' congressional districts; Gov. Rick Perry would be right to call for a special
session in the Texas Legislature and address the issue.
Tom Elia is a contributing editor for The New Editor.