Congressional Redistricting: Veasey’s Map (cont’d.)
Here’s the Google version. DFW map seems to be the most interesting, so that’s the default view below.
A few things that I either missed from the press conference or just weren’t covered at all or represented well in laying this plan out:
- CD10 is wholly outside of Travis County, which means that Mike McCaul does not reside in the district. Not that he couldn’t still run and even still be a favorite for winning. But still. As it stands, McCaul is paired with Doggett.
- CD20 pairs Canseco and Charlie Gonzalez.
- CD32 pairs Hensarling and Sessions.
Demographics for the districts can be seen here.
Map:
DFW (default) – Harris – Central TX – South TX
(right click and open in a new tab for full-page view of each)
Google Earth Files: DFW – Harris – Central TX – South TX – Statewide
According to my notes, Marc Veasey’s map has 14 solidly Democratic seats. Specifically,
DFW: 30, 34, 35
Harris: 9, 18, 29
Central TX: 20, 23, 25
South TX: 15, 27, 28, 33
El Paso: 16
In addition, Chet Edwards and Nick Lampson could probably contest 17 and 36, respectively.
This shows why I would rather see compact, minority-coalition districts than gerrymandered ones that are not even really single-minority. This map has three districts crossing the same county line in order to create a “Black” district less than 38% Black and a “Hispanic” district less than 42% SSVR.
I do give Veasey credit for respecing county lines in the rest of the state more than most other maps, except for his excessive splitting of Fort Bend and Bexar.