The maps were the result of the first regular round of redistricting to take place since the landmark 2013 US Supreme Court decision that effectively gutted the Voting Rights Act – a federal law that had required states with a history of discriminatory voting laws, including Texas, to get the federal government’s pre-approval before changing voting laws and implementing new district maps. If Republicans won those 25 seats, they would hold 66% of the US House seats in a state where former President Donald Trump last year won just 52% of the vote. Republicans would be heavily favored to win at least 24 of the state’s 38 districts in next year’s midterm elections and could win one swing district as well, based on a FiveThirtyEight analysis of those new districts’ results in 2020’s presidential election and other recent elections. White voters would make up a majority in 23 districts and eight districts would have no racial majority, according to data from the Texas Legislative Council, reported by The Texas Tribune and FiveThirtyEight. ![]() That’s down one from the previous decade’s maps, despite the explosive growth of the Hispanic population in the state. Hispanics – who, like Whites, comprise about 40% of the state’s population, the 2020 Census found – would make up a majority in just seven of the state’s 38 congressional districts. The number of majority-White districts would increase, even though the growing Hispanic population is almost entirely responsible for Texas gaining two seats in the US House in the reapportionment process. The new map would consolidate the power of White voters and eliminate political competition in the state’s rapidly changing suburbs. Legal challenges to the new map are likely now that Abbott, a Republican, has signed it. ![]() ![]() The maps were approved by the state legislature last week, under the once-a-decade redistricting process, days before Senate Republicans in Washington, DC, blocked yet another voting rights bill that would crack down on those kinds of gerrymanders. Greg Abbott on Monday signed into law a new congressional map that is expected to bolster the GOP’s majority in the quickly diversifying state.
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