Congressman Marc Veasey calls Tarrant redistricting proposal ‘Jim Crow politics'
U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey on Tuesday compared Tarrant County's proposed redrawing of voting precincts to 'Jim Crow politics' and called on the public to oppose the plan.
'I want to be absolutely clear: it's racial gerrymandering, plain and simple,' the Democratic congressman said during a news conference outside the county courthouse.
Tarrant County commissioners are expected to vote on one of five proposed redistricting maps on June 3. The two Democrats on the five-member commissioners court are against it, and both stood with Veasey on Tuesday.
Veasey warned that 'gerrymandering by the GOP' is an effort to undo work for racial equality. He said he is concerned for the voting rights of minorities nationally, but especially in Tarrant County.
'Because that's where we've seen so much of the egregious racially discriminatory tactics that have taken place the last couple of decades,' Veasey said. 'And so we are determined to make sure that we do not allow the clock to be turned back when it comes to the rights of black and brown communities.'
On Friday, mayors of 10 cities in Tarrant County including Fort Worth and Arlington signed a letter urging County Judge Tim O'Hare to 'strongly consider' delaying the June 3 vote. The letter calls the maps flawed and in violation of state and federal law. The Arlington City Council on Tuesday night was expected to consider a resolution opposing the plan, following a similar proclamation by Fort Worth's council last week.
Republican members of the commissioners court have said that redistricting is needed because of Tarrant County's growth in recent years. One of them, Commissioner Manny Ramirez, has strongly denied that race played a role in drawing the maps.
In April, the Tarrant County commissioners began an unusual mid-decade redistricting process, hiring Public Interest Legal Foundation to assist. The legal firm then subcontracted map drawer Adam Kincaid from the National Republican Redistricting Trust, an organization that coordinates 'the GOP's 50-state redistricting effort.'
Five weeks later, the commissioners court was presented with five maps that favor Republicans according to voter trend data.
Veasey said the redistricting process led by O'Hare is intentionally opaque and rushed so the new map can be in place for the 2026 election, when O'Hare, Ramirez and Democrat Alisa Simmons are up for reelection.
'He's refusing to share racial data. He's ignoring elected commissioners. He's ramming through,' Veasey said. 'He's ramming this through in just six weeks with only four public hearings in a county of over 2 million people, over 2 million people. Think about that. Fort Worth is now the 11th largest city in the country. This isn't democracy. It's a demolition job.'
Opponents of redistricting have threatened legal action if the commissioners approve one of the maps.
'We're not going to be silenced,' Veasey said. 'We're not going to be erased, and we're not going to let them drag us back into Jim Crow politics.'
Simmons spoke to the redistricting process in 2021, when a Republican-led commissioners court agreed that the 2011 precinct map still held up. She said the only purpose of this redistricting is to crack Precinct 2 and pack Precinct 1.
'Cracking and packing' are two techniques used in gerrymandering. Cracking is when a group with similar interests is divided to weaken their voting power. Packing is when a group with similar interests is drawn into as few precincts as possible, so they can only vote for one or two seats on a ballot.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Roderick Miles said approving one of the proposed maps would be the result of the Republican's calculated effort to suppress minority voters.
'We are no longer living in the era of reconstruction of Jim Crow, but let's not kid ourselves,' Miles said. 'The methods may have evolved, but the mission to weaken black and brown political power has not disappeared. It has simply found new disguises.'
Fort Worth council members Chris Nettles, Elizabeth Beck, Jared Williams and Jeanette Martinez also spoke during Veasey's event.
Some criticized O'Hare and Ramirez for not attending town halls on the issue.
O'Hare did not respond to the Star-Telegram's request for comment.
Williams implored Tarrant County residents to let the commissioners know that 'this is not okay.'
'We'll read and remember this moment, this moment where we stood in solidarity, we spoke up for what was right, even though it may be uncomfortable,' Williams said, 'because our kids are watching, and so is history.'
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