With candidate filing for next year's primaries slated to start Monday, lawyers for the state were rushing to block a proposed interim map of Texas' congressional districts or at least persuade federal judges to change it, even if it means delaying elections.
The new map was issued by a San Antonio federal court Wednesday, the latest product of lawsuits filed by minority groups and some Democratic officials who argued that political maps drawn this year by the Republican-led Legislature disenfranchised minority voters. Parties involved in the lawsuits were asked to comment on the court's map by Friday.As in the objections they filed last week to interim legislative maps that the same court largely ignored, state officials accused federal judges of overreaching in redrawing congressional districts instead of adopting a map similar to the Legislature's.Federal judges still have to finalize a map before filing begins for the 2012 primaries. Attorney General Greg Abbott's office has requested that at least some of the new maps not be implemented while the state appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court, even if that means delaying elections.Lawyers from Abbott's office singled out the shape of a new Tarrant County district as among the worst offenses in the court's map. District 33 would run from Fort Worth's north side to Arlington's east side and include several minority communities.The state's lawyers accused the court of combining "distinct minority groups" in the district for no good reason."No evidence before this court demonstrates any voting cohesion ... among Latino, African-American, and Asian minority groups in District 33. Nor is there any evidence in the record that members of these minority groups have been effectively excluded from the political process," they wrote.Other groups largely praised the proposed map but took issue with the addition of more than 200,000 Hispanics in Dallas County to District 6, which stretches down to Navarro County.The district is now represented by Rep. Joe Barton, R-Arlington. The Texas Latino Redistricting Task Force suggested moving those Hispanics to the new minority district in Tarrant County. A group that includes state Sen. Wendy Davis and state Rep. Marc Veasey, both Fort Worth Democrats, suggested that District 6 be reconfigured as a Hispanic-opportunity district based in Dallas County.District 33While District 33 was both praised and condemned in court filings Friday, it continued to draw interest from potential candidates expecting it to be a minority-majority district for next year's elections.Fort Worth Councilwoman Kathleen Hicks and Veasey announced Wednesday that they are running for the new seat.The Rev. Kyev Tatum, a community activist who heads the Tarrant County chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said Friday that he's "strongly considering" jumping into the race.Tatum is a former vice president of the Texas NAACP. He is also a former Republican precinct chairman but said that if he runs, he will do so as an "independent Democrat" and hopes some Republicans would support him."It's a strong Democrat district," he said. "I've been both a Democrat and a Republican. I voted for President Obama in the last election. ... We have a community organizer in the White House. It would be good to have one in District 33."Fort Worth attorney and former Tarrant County Democratic Chairman Art Brender said he is not ready to rule out a bid."My main concern is seeing to it that whoever does represent it, represents the kind of folks in the district," he said Friday. "They can get help they haven't gotten under" Republican Reps. Kay Granger, Joe Barton and Michael Burgess.Fort Worth civil-rights attorney Jason Smith, who had been considering a bid, said Friday that he's not running. Smith works in a law office with Brender.Hicks confirmed that the city charter requires her to give up her council seat once she files for the congressional race. Hicks said she has already spoken to Mayor Betsy Price about it.The council would schedule a special election to replace Hicks. The timing of the election could get tricky because Fort Worth redrew districts this year and plans to implement them for elections in May.The winner of a special election may end up quickly running again in the new lines of the district in May.Peña bows outAlso Friday, state Rep. Aaron Peña , R-Edinburg, announced that he won't seek re-election because the court-drawn legislative map makes it impossible for him to win his South Texas district."It is unwinnable by me or any Republican candidate and I will not move into another legislative district to run against a colleague," Peña wrote on his blog.A member of the Texas House since 2002, Peña switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party last year.Aman Batheja, 817-390-7695Anna M. Tinsley, 817-390-7610
Scramble starts for new congressional seat
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