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Yahoo
08-08-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texans, Democrats condemn GOP redistricting plans at first public hearing
Speaking to two dozen state lawmakers, a packed hearing room, two overflow rooms and a robust virtual waiting room, Texans condemned the Legislature's plan to redraw the state's congressional map at the House redistricting committee's first public meeting on Thursday. 'When I saw what you folks were doing up here in the Legislature, I got screaming mad,' said Christy Stockman, from Corpus Christi. 'It's a good old fashioned bait-and-switch, with a power grab added in.' At the first of seven public hearings, Democratic lawmakers echoed these calls, pressing their Republican colleagues on why redistricting was being pushed through during an overtime special legislative session. 'The effort to change these districts at this time has nothing to do with representing people better,' said Rep. Jon Rosenthal, a Houston Democrat and vice chair of the House committee in charge of redistricting. 'It's the opposite of that. It's a power grab at the expense of Black and brown communities.' The unusual attempt to redraw the congressional map in the middle of the decade comes after pressure from President Donald Trump, who wants to pad Republicans' narrow majority in the U.S. House ahead of a potentially tough midterm election. The Legislature has not yet revealed any proposed revisions of the existing map, which was drawn in 2021 and has since reliably yielded 25 seats for Republicans, and 13 for Democrats. Rep. Cody Vasut, the Angleton Republican chairing the House redistricting committee, said the information gathered at the hearings will shape whether and how the maps are redrawn. 'I've never gone to a hearing where I didn't leave thinking about something a little differently,' Vasut told The Texas Tribune on Thursday. 'We really want to hear from people on this, and we are listening.' But many at the hearing, including Democratic lawmakers, condemned the hearings as a sham, saying the map has likely already been drawn by Trump's political team. 'That's what's at stake here, whether you all are going to work for the people of Texas, as we used to do, to try to do, or whether you take your commandments from Donald Trump and the White House,' said U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, a San Antonio Democrat. 'I hope that you all will choose to do the business of the people of Texas, as this body has a history of being independent from the federal government.' Texas, like all states, redraws its electoral lines every ten years, after the census shows who has moved where over the intervening decade. While there's no law against redrawing the lines more often, it's uncommon — the last time Texas did a midcycle redistricting was 2003, after Republicans gained control of both chambers of the Legislature for the first time since Reconstruction. This time, it appears the impetus is coming from the federal government. A few weeks after Trump reportedly began pushing this idea, the Department of Justice issued a letter telling Texas leaders that four of the state's congressional districts were unconstitutionally drawn based on race. Gov. Greg Abbott added redistricting to the special session agenda, citing 'constitutional concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Justice,' even as Attorney General Ken Paxton claimed in a letter to the DOJ that the districts were drawn race blind. Representatives for the state have repeatedly used the same argument to defend the current maps in court. At a rally outside the Capitol before Thursday's hearing, former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke accused Trump and Abbott of being 'thick as thieves.' 'In order to continue this consolidation of authoritarian power and to destroy this democracy once and for all, [Trump] has to retain control in the United States House of Representatives, where he currently has a very narrow majority,' said O'Rourke, a Democrat from El Paso. 'And it turns out that the policies and the programs that he pursues are deeply unpopular with the American people.' Trump has reportedly asked Texas lawmakers to try to add five additional GOP seats, which will necessarily involve slicing up existing Democratic districts, many of which are made up of mostly Black and Hispanic voters. Gabriel Rosales, with the League of United Latin American Citizens, told lawmakers that this is part of Texas' long history of disenfranchising Hispanic voters. 'It's very demoralizing that we can do as much as we can to contribute … but we don't have representation on water boards, on school boards and city councils across the state,' Rosales said. 'And then people ask why Latinos don't vote.' Gary Bledsoe, president of the Texas NAACP, said the state's current maps already under-represent Latino voters, and this proposed switch will likely worsen it. He said it felt like lawmakers were just 'checking the box' with the hearings before pushing forward with the maps Trump wanted to see. 'There's no real consequence to what we say and, no disrespect, but we have been disregarded in the past,' Bledsoe said. Democrats have vowed to do what they can to thwart the process, so far dragging out debate over the rules and meticulously questioning each witness at Thursday's hearing. It took almost 45 minutes to get through the first three of over 170 registered witnesses. They also grilled Vasut on why Republicans were moving to redraw district lines now. Rep. Gene Wu of Houston, the House Democratic Caucus chair, asked Vasut whether he knew of any member of the Texas Legislature who had asked Abbott to take up mid-decade redistricting. Vasut said he was not personally aware, but said it was 'prudent and proper' for lawmakers to follow the governor's special session agenda. 'There is no obligation for us to do this at all — at all,' said Rep. Joe Moody, an El Paso Democrat. Thursday was the first of three House redistricting hearings, each slated to last no more than five hours. The next will take place Saturday in Houston, followed by a Monday hearing in Arlington. Vasut encouraged people to submit comments through an online portal. The Senate has scheduled four hearings, all virtual, starting Friday at 10 a.m. The lineup for The Texas Tribune Festival continues to grow! Be there when all-star leaders, innovators and newsmakers take the stage in downtown Austin, Nov. 13–15. The newest additions include comedian, actor and writer John Mulaney; Dallas mayor Eric Johnson; U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota; New York Media Editor-at-Large Kara Swisher; and U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso. Get your tickets today! TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
Associated Press
01-08-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Democrats cry foul as Republicans push to redraw Texas electoral maps to gain US House seats
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Democratic lawmakers tried to build a case Friday that Republicans in Texas have engineered a rushed and unfair process for redrawing the state's congressional districts in response to a push by President Donald Trump to win more GOP seats that Democrats fear will spread to other states. Democrats in the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature delayed the start of public testimony during a hearing of a state House Committee on Redistricting by peppering its chair with pointed questions about how quickly GOP lawmakers planned to move and whether the public is getting enough of an opportunity to weigh in. The Republican proposal would give the GOP five more winnable seats in next year's elections, which would make it easier for the party to keep its slim U.S. House majority. Chair Cody Vasut told the committee that he expected it to vote later Friday or Saturday on the bill, which Republicans unveiled Wednesday. He said he expected the full state House to debate the measure Tuesday. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott called the Legislature into a 30-day special session and put congressional redistricting on the agenda after Trump called for Texas to redraw lines that Republicans approved in 2021. Republicans hold 25 of the state's seats, to 13 for Democrats, and the plan would create 30 districts that Trump would have carried by at least 10 percentage points had they been in place in 2024. Democratic state Rep. Jon Rosenthal called the public redistricting hearings 'a sham.' The committee quietly released the plan after several public hearings that drew hours of public testimony and scrutiny from residents concerned about new maps they hadn't seen. 'Does the leadership of the state truly think the people of Texas are that stupid?' Rosenthal asked, to which Vasut did not reply. GOP author acknowledges partisan motives Democrats appear to have few ways to stop the GOP's plans. Some have talked about boycotting the special session to prevent either chamber or both from having a quorum to take action until the special session ends. But Abbott could call another. Republican state Rep. Todd Hunter, the bill's author, dismissed concerns about how quickly lawmakers are moving. He said they've have been discussing the possibility for months. 'Don't be surprised,' he said. 'The topic has been there.' Hunter acknowledged that the lines were being redrawn 'for partisan purposes,' which he said is allowed by the U.S. Supreme Court. He said a law firm was consulted as the map was being drawn. 'I'm telling you,' he said. 'I'm not beating around the bush.' Democrats argue that if Republicans succeed in redrawing the districts in Texas, Trump will push other states to redraw theirs before they'd normally do so, which would be in 2031 or 2032, after the next nationwide census. States are required to adjust the lines at least once every 10 years to keep the districts as equal in population as possible after population shifts. That's led Democrats in California and New York to consider redrawing their states' lines to help Democrats, though each state has an independent commission for drawing the lines. Texas might have no competitive districts Under the exiting lines, which were in place for the 2022 and 2024 elections, Republicans won all of the seats in districts carried by Trump by at least 10 percentage points, and Democrats won all 11 districts carried by Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. In the other two districts, Trump won by less than 10 percentage points, but Democrats won the House seats. Under the new map, there would be no districts won by Trump by less than 10 points. In Austin, a liberal bastion, parts of two districts represented by Democrats would be combined into one that favored Democrats even more strongly. One of the three other districts would include a slice of the city and extend 340 miles (547 kilometers) to the west, to take in the oil city of Midland. Vault refused to recognize Democrats so they could force the committee to vote on adding more public hearings in cities affected by the new maps. Data compiled by the Legislature shows that the proposed map would pack more Democratic voters into fewer districts while spreading Republicans out a bit more. Hunter said there's no requirement to do redistricting at a certain time. 'Some people like it, and some people don't, and that's the nature of redistricting,' Hunter said. ___ Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas.
New York Times
17-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Amid Flood Response, Texas Republicans Pivot to Political Maps
A special legislative session in Texas, set to begin on Monday in the wake of the devastating July 4 floods in Texas Hill Country, is shaping up to be a politically dangerous and emotionally raw diversion into gerrymandering the state's House districts. Lawmakers will take up questions about the handling of the floods, which killed more than 130 people, including at least 37 children. Nearly 100 Texans remain missing. But that bipartisan imperative will be complicated by a hard-edge partisan agenda, dominated by President Trump's push for the Legislature to redraw the state's congressional district maps to be more favorable for Republicans. He wants his party to gain five seats in Texas in the 2026 midterm elections to help retain control of the U.S. House. Gov. Greg Abbott has asked lawmakers to also consider a dozen other items during the 30-day special session, including new hard-line conservative proposals to ban mail-order abortion pills, lower property taxes and regulate intoxicating hemp. And he wants lawmakers to consider a state constitutional amendment that would empower the state attorney general to prosecute election crimes. 'It's a wild situation,' said State Representative Jon Rosenthal, a Houston Democrat. 'The past sessions I've been a part of have been of a very limited scope.' Most Texans' attention will probably lie with the July 4 flood and what can be done to improve warning systems, such as placing outdoor sirens along flood-prone waterways like the Guadalupe River, where most of the deaths occurred. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas lawmakers move to abolish child marriage: 'The practice should be ended completely'
The Texas Legislature is poised to end the controversial practice of child marriage in the Lone Star State with a bill the House passed Wednesday. House Bill 168, authored by Rep. Jon Rosenthal, D-Houston, would eliminate a loophole in the current statute that lets 16- to 17-year-olds get married if a judge allows it. The bill passed the House by an 87-48 vote and will now head to the Senate. The bill would essentially bar county clerks from issuing a marriage license to anyone under 18 years old for any reason, notwithstanding a court order that would allow the person to marry. Further, it would effectively nullify any marriage involving a minor in Texas, including those who are legally married in another state. "We have a few instances a year where 40- to 50-year-old men are marrying 16- to 17-year-old girls in the state of Texas," Rosenthal said while initially laying out his bill Tuesday. "I hope that something we all agree must be ended." Generally speaking, child marriage is not legal in Texas. A state law passed in 2017 limited underage marriages to teenagers who are at least 16 years old, emancipated from their parents and have legal permission from a court to wed. Child marriage rates in the state have dropped drastically since then. In 2016, Texas saw nearly 400 marriages involving at least one minor, according to an American-Statesman analysis of data from the Texas Department of State Health Services. In 2021, the most recent year for which data is available, there were just 10. All 10 of the 2021 cases involved a minor female — the youngest of whom was 15 — marrying an adult male. In one case, a 37-year-old man married a 17-year-old girl. "Child marriage is too dangerous to be permitted," Rosenthal said. "The practice should be ended completely in Texas with no exceptions to abuse or exploit. House Bill 168 will accomplish this." This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas proposal could end child marriage in state
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill to ban child marriages in Texas advances in the House
The Texas House brought the state one step closer to eliminating a legal loophole that permits child marriages. House Bill 168, by Rep. Jon Rosenthal, a Houston Democrat, tentatively passed 83-51 on Tuesday and will be up for a final vote this week before advancing to the Senate. If passed, the bill would prohibit counties from issuing marriage licenses to minors, even if they are emancipated, and would effectively end any current marriage involving a minor. Marriage involving teens is rare after lawmakers in 2017 took steps to curb the practice, but the loophole has still allowed some cases involving minors to move forward. 'I brought this bill, originally to protect our Texas children from a loophole in the law that allows trafficking of these kids. And that is certainly still my goal,' Rosenthal told lawmakers from the floor Tuesday. Lawmakers also tentatively approved a provision in the bill on Tuesday that would give survivors of child marriage a pathway for legal recourse when their marriage is dissolved. Advocates for survivors worried that the bill would leave survivors with nothing by voiding their marriages. The bill faced some questions from representatives on the house floor. Rosenthal clarified that Texas laws already say people must be 18 to marry, even though the age of sexual consent is 17, and the bill would not change that age limit. Rep. Linda Garcia, a Mesquite Democrat, asked what the bill would mean for teens protected by so-called Romeo and Juliet laws, which allow for relationships between adults and minors if there is an age gap of three years or less. 'I think there's just some concern that in a Romeo and Juliet relationship, that this would stop them from being able to legally get married,' Garcia said, adding that teens in such relationships can still live as common law spouses. Rosenthal agreed that the bill would not affect common law marriages and would only affect those that go through the courthouse. He told The Texas Tribune that he is concerned that some lawmakers might try to insert into his bill a Romeo and Juliet provision. 'If it manages to get on there, I'm going to withdraw the bill,' Rosenthal told The Texas Tribune. The provision faces a high threshold for passage, since he doesn't support it and it is being proposed after the House already tentatively approved the bill without it on Tuesday, he said. It would need at least 100 votes, which would require Democrats to buy-in to it as well. If the bill passes in the House, it would head to the Senate where it will have to go through a committee and face another three votes on the Senate floor. First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
