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Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tarrant County leaders urge public turnout ahead of redistricting vote
Tarrant County political organizations have been rallying residents for weeks leading up to Tuesday's Commissioners Court redistricting vote. In the last 24 hours before the vote, leaders are preparing signs and encouraging people to sign up to speak at the 10 a.m. meeting. The Tarrant County Commissioners Court will vote whether to establish new precinct boundaries for the four commissioners seats. The fast-paced, two-month-long process began when the county selected Public Interest Legal Foundation to advise in redrawing the maps ahead of the 2026 primary and general elections. The law firm, based in Alexandria, Virginia, have presented the court with seven maps drawn by National Republican Redistricting Trust's president, Adam Kincaid. All of them would likely lead to an additional Republican-held seat on the court. A Harvard law professor told the Star-Telegram the maps show 'telltale signs of racial gerrymandering.' After four county-hosted public meetings, Public Interest Legal Foundation added two more maps to the original five for the court's consideration. Now with the deciding vote around the corner, leaders are making a final push for their supporters to speak out. Julie McCarty, CEO of True Texas Project, said in an emailed newsletter that the Democrats are turning out 'in droves' to speak against redistricting. She wants redistricting supporters to do the same. 'The Left is freaking out,' the newsletter said. 'They've not only called on all the questionable organizations they control, like Act Blue, to register their choice for a new map, but they have gone so far as to offer babysitting and rides to show up at district meetings and at the court for the final vote! Hey, ya gotta admire their passion. Can our passion match that?' In recent meetings, most of the people speaking have opposed redistricting, so the email gives guidance on how to support the redrawing. 'Just like at the district meetings, all you have to do is stand up and say, 'I am John Doe, and I support redistricting with the most conservative map that gives us 3 Republican county commissioners. Thank you,'' the newsletter said. Allison Campolo, former county chair of the Tarrant County Democratic Party, said she is rallying her troops to sign up for public comment and to stay through the long day until their voice is heard. 'We are reminding people that the real crux of the issue here is that these maps are illegally cracked and packed irreconcilable with the Voting Rights Act,' Campolo said. 'This will cost Tarrant taxpayers hundreds of thousands or millions in court costs to defend these illegal maps.' In a letter of opposition to the Commissioners Court, the Texas ACLU, Texas Civil Rights Project and Southern Coalition for Social Justice pointed to the $4 million cost of Galveston County's redistricting litigation the Public Interest Legal Foundation was involved in. Attorneys from Texas ACLU and the Texas Civil Rights Project said success on June 3 would look like the Commissioners Court listening to the 'robust public opposition' and voting accordingly. If that doesn't happen, the organizations will consider their legal options. Katherine Godby, chair of the Justice Network of Tarrant County, said the organization is working with other groups to host an 8 a.m. rally against redistricting in front of the county administration building, where the vote will take place. She said the energy surrounding the redistricting opposition has continued to grow and that people are angry over the effort. Godby said she wants to see one of the Republicans on the court join Democrats Alisa Simmons and Roderick Miles in opposition so that the maps stay the same. If it doesn't go that way, Godby said the Justice Network will continue speaking out at commissioners court meetings as they have done for years.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Arlington opposes redistricting, wants Tarrant County to wait until 2030 census
Arlington City Council passed a resolution, 8-1, Tuesday to oppose the Tarrant County redistricting efforts, urging the county to delay any decision to adopt a new map. In April, Tarrant County Commissioners began an uncommon mid-decade redistricting process, hiring the 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. The commissioners plan to vote on implementing a new map at their June 3 meeting. The resolution urges the county to wait until there is up-to-date census data to use in redrawing the maps, or to at least elongate the redistricting process to hear the public's feedback and conduct further analysis. It also asks the commissioners court to ensure the process abides by all the federal guidelines for redistricting. Arlington Mayor Jim Ross told the Star-Telegram that the resolution may not have any impact but hopes the commissioners court sees the number of cities and mayors speaking out. 'I hope they listen to it and they heed the advice,' Ross said, 'because I'm afraid what will end up happening is it's going to cost taxpayers a great deal of money in litigation trying to defend an illegal process.' Ross led a group of 10 mayors in filing a letter of opposition to the redistricting after Arlington's legal counsel found 'a whole gamut' of legal issues with the county's process. The letter outlined the issues and requested the vote be pulled from the June 3 agenda. If the court did not, the 10 mayors promised to speak out at the meeting. In a call with Ross, County Judge Tim O'Hare said, 'We're not pulling anything. I guess I'll see you on June 3.' The only vote against the resolution came from councilmember Bowie Hogg, who said as elected officials in non-partisan seats, the city council needs to stay out of the partisan fight over redistricting. 'The city's done a really good job, led by our mayor many times, of staying out of this partisan chaos,' Hogg said. 'And when we get into redistricting, it is partisan chaos, and I don't think there's any other way to describe it than that. We also know no matter who's elected to any of these county commissioner seats, we have to work with them, whether they're red, blue, independent, whatever they are.' Three members of the public spoke at the meeting, all in favor of the resolution. 'We live in a place where we respect the rules, where we respect each other and we respect each other's right to exist and respect each other's right to have a voice,' Paul Hissin said. 'I would love to go home and tell (my) daughter that her elected officials here stood up in one loud voice and said, 'We are going to respect the laws. We're not going to bow down to cronyism.''
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Proposed Tarrant County commissioner precinct maps favor Republicans
Tarrant County commissioners will consider five maps for redistricting, all of which would benefit Republicans based on recent voting trends. The maps were drawn by Adam Kincaid, executive director and president of National Republican Redistricting Trust, an organization that coordinates 'the GOP's 50-state redistricting effort.' He was hired by the Public Interest Legal Foundation, the Arlington, Virginia-based firm the county tapped April 2 to redraw its commissioner precinct maps. Precinct 2 commissioner Alisa Simmons, a Democrat from Arlington, condemned the law firm representative, Joe Nixon, and the contracted map drawer, Adam Kincaid, for 'intentional racial discrimination,' citing the law firm's work defending Galveston County when it was accused in 2021 of unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. Simmons would be at risk of losing her seat in the redistricting — all of the maps break Arlington into three precincts. 'Let's be clear: this is a calculated attempt to strip representation from the very communities that I was elected to represent,' Simmons said in a statement. The county will host four public feedback sessions from May 13 to May 21 in Azle, southwest Fort Worth, Arlington and Hurst. Simmons said the court needs to hear from Kincaid and that he should attend the public feedback sessions. O'Hare would not answer her question about if it would be possible to bring Kincaid in. Broderick Miles, a Democrat from Fort Worth, said there should be more feedback sessions, including ones in Spanish and Vietnamese. 'We need to make it as accessible and open and transparent to every resident in Tarrant County as we possibly can, and if that means extending the timeline so be it,' Miles said. 'We are not elected to represent just the people that we agree with. We were elected to hear from the people. The people should have an opportunity to let their voices be heard.' Roderick Miles Jr., the Tarrant County Commissioner of Precinct 1, addresses his concern regarding the proposed redistricting of the county during a Commissioners Court Meeting at the Tarrant County Administration Building in Fort Worth on Tuesday, May 6, 2025. The last feedback session takes place two weeks before the commissioners are set to vote on the new map on June 6. Many of the speakers signed up for public comment questioned if the meetings were just a farce. 'That doesn't feel to me like a long enough time to consider meaningfully any feedback that's to be obtained during these sessions,' Diana Cason said. 'So are these meaningful sessions for input, or are they dog and pony shows?' PILF under fire from Simmons The nonprofit Public Interest Legal Foundation focuses on election integrity and fighting voter fraud, according to its website. The firm successfully defended Galveston County in federal litigation over allegations it unconstitutionally used racial gerrymandering in a 2021 commissioners redistricting. Simmons said the firm was chosen by Republican County Judge Tim O'Hare because of its political history. 'PILF is not a traditional law firm,' Simmons said in a statement. 'It is an extreme, ideologically motivated organization with a documented history of undermining voting rights, particularly for communities of color. Their involvement in this process was no accident. It was a deliberate choice by the county judge to bring in a group whose mission is to weaken the power of minority voters.' Lawyer Joe Nixon remains present after addressing the questions regarding the proposed redistricting of the county during a Commissioners Court Meeting at the Tarrant County Administration Building in Fort Worth on Tuesday, May 6, 2025. Simmons asked Nixon, a litigator with the law firm, about his involvement in various cases of alleged unconstitutional racial gerrymandering and if he had ever broken the Voting Rights Act. Nixon denied ever doing so, and explained the court sided with his firm in the Galveston County case. 'I've been practicing law 42 years,' Nixon said. 'I have never once had anyone say anything that you just said to me publicly. I am embarrassed for you.' Nixon said the five maps represent the wants of each of the commissioners. Simmons said the only map that represented hers and Miles' wants was the current precinct map. Redrawn precinct maps The four commissioners each represent a precinct and the county judge represents the county as a whole. The proposed maps divide Precinct 4 and Precinct 3 along Interstate 35W. They also each break Arlington into three precincts, when it is now completely in Precinct 2. According to county election data, Precincts 1 and 2 vote Democratic and Precincts 3 and 4 vote Republican. In the new maps, only Precinct 1 has voted Democratic in the presidential and midterm elections going back to 2016. Democrats have consistently held Miles' Precinct 1 seat. Republicans represented Precinct 2 for 34 years until Democrat Devan Allen took the seat in 2019. Simmons won the seat in the 2022 election. The 26 people who spoke during public comment opposed the proposed maps and said they prefer the current one. One speaker condemned the commissioners court for the lack of representation in the proposed maps. Arlington resident Jackee Cox speaks during the public comment portion during a Commissioners Court Meeting at the Tarrant County Administration Building in Fort Worth on Tuesday, May 6, 2025. 'I really would like map drawers, people with the expertise to draw maps that will come out to be fair to everyone, because this county is not 100% Republican,' Jackee Cox, a retired civil rights attorney, said. 'If you draw lines to give us only Republican representation, those people who need mental health services and public health services and JPS services and road services and all kinds of services will be not only underrepresented, but will be unrepresented.' Simmons told the Star-Telegram that she and Miles will determine whether to sue the county for pursuing 'a redistricting process that is an attack on voters based on the color of their skin and the electoral decisions they make as minority citizens.'
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
To Fight Trump, Democrats Must Embrace Gerrymandering
The Trump-Musk administration's campaign to loot and pillage the federal government is going largely unchecked. Republicans narrowly control the House and the Senate, making them passive accomplices to the destruction. As the minority party in both chambers, Democrats have few options to staunch the bleeding. Whether the administration will follow court orders that curb their vaulting ambitions is, for now, an open question. Democrats at the state level can do one thing in the medium term that might help: redrawing their state's congressional maps to favor Democrats as much as possible ahead of the 2026 midterms. Republicans only control the House by a handful of votes. Making it easier to retake that chamber next year will be the first, best opportunity to serve as a check on the White House. Doing so will require Democrats to pivot away from almost two decades of campaigning against gerrymandering. In practical terms, this pivot means no longer losing the last war. Partisan gerrymandering is an unfortunate reality in modern American political life. Especially since 2010, Republican-led legislatures throughout the country have used it to maximize their legislative gains and minimize their losses in each election cycle. That effort paid off tremendously in 2024 when it helped narrowly keep Republican control of the House. 'We made no bones about the fact that we're going to shore up incumbents, and where we had opportunities to go on offense, we were going to do that,' Adam Kincaid, the director of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, told The New York Times last month. 'So what that means is bringing a whole lot of Republican seats that were otherwise in jeopardy off the board.' Democrats and voting-rights groups mostly responded to the explosion in partisan gerrymandering through litigation. While they scored some crucial victories in the 2010s, most famously in North Carolina and Wisconsin, the right-wing majority on the Supreme Court put an end to it in 2019. In a 5-4 decision along ideological lines, the court held that federal courts did not have jurisdiction to hear partisan-gerrymandering cases. 'Excessive partisanship in districting leads to results that reasonably seem unjust,' Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court. 'But the fact that such gerrymandering is 'incompatible with democratic principles' does not mean that the solution lies with the federal judiciary.' He concluded that the issue must be tackled by the democratic branches of government. Efforts to challenge partisan gerrymandering in state courts in red states have been mixed at best. In North Carolina, where Republicans effectively gave themselves permanent control of the state legislature, victories over gerrymandering have been short-lived. The state supreme court tried to redraw the state's legislative maps to be more fair in 2022, but then reversed course after the 2022 election flipped the court back to Republican control. As the Times noted last month, that defeat effectively gave Republicans three House seats—and with it, control of the chamber. Six states do not have enough people for multiple legislative districts, so gerrymandering is not an issue (or an option) there. Most of the remaining forty-four states are under partial or total GOP control. Another nine of them use independent redistricting commissions to draw their legislative maps. Only two of those nine states—Idaho and Montana—are 'red' states, for lack of a better term. The remaining seven states trend either purple or blue: Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Michigan, New Jersey, and Washington. The commissions in California and New Jersey are particularly unfortunate. With large populations and reliable Democratic control of the state legislature and governor's mansion, the two states could have redrawn their maps more easily than others while complying with federal voting-rights laws. With nine Republican-favoring districts, California alone could tip the balance of power in the House if lawmakers could redraw their congressional maps at will. California's experience is also a case study in the dangers of unilateral disarmament on gerrymandering. The state adopted an independent redistricting commission through ballot initiatives in 2008 and 2010, just before the 2010 census that Republicans in other states used to entrench themselves into effective one-party rule. The largest donor to the ballot initiatives was Charlie Munger, Jr., the wealthy son of the longtime Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman—and a longtime Republican donor. Munger persuaded voting-rights groups and politicians from both sides of the aisle to back the reforms. 'I would've been very welcome in Republican circles if I decided to go chuck 10 million in a bunch of races up and down the state to fight for Republican control of Congress,' Munger told The New York Times in 2010. 'It isn't a worthy ambition compared to doing this.' While Munger has carved out a reputation as a good-governance activist, the net effect of the reforms was to entrench nearly a dozen GOP-friendly seats in the most progressive state in the Union. So where could Democrats go instead to find a few seats? The best option would be Illinois, which currently has 14 Democrats and 3 Republicans in its state congressional delegation. Republicans there have long complained about the state's redistricting practices and their favorability towards Democrats. Last month, a group of voters and the top Republican in the Illinois House filed a lawsuit in state court to challenge the state legislative map on partisan-gerrymandering grounds. If the Illinois Supreme Court rules against them, Governor J.B. Pritzker and his allies should take it as a green light to redraw the congressional map as well. Other viable states that might be able to squeeze out one or two more Democratic seats are Minnesota and Oregon. In the long term, Democratic lawmakers in states like California, New Jersey, and New York—whose hybrid system allowed Republicans to make unusual gains in 2022—should also take steps to reverse their states' gerrymandering reforms. A notable irony, in fact, is that the abolition of gerrymandering first requires those who would end the practice to become more deft at it. I've argued, for instance, that congressional Democrats should ultimately pass a law requiring states to adopt some form of proportional representation, thereby ending gerrymandering forever. But they'll need to secure a House majority to pull this off. Until then, Democrats and blue states must be willing to use the same legal and constitutional tools as Republicans to protect American democracy.
