Latest news with #SylvesterTurner
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Redistricting war underscores growing power of state legislatures
The brewing war over redistricting is underscoring the increasing importance of state legislatures heading into the midterms. Texas Republicans unveiled a new set of proposed House lines on Wednesday that create five additional Republican-friendly districts ahead of 2026. Legislators in other states, including New York and Maryland, are similarly beginning to take measures into their own hands amid the redistricting tit for tat. The broader turmoil over changing congressional lines is putting a fresh spotlight on state legislatures' ability to shape federal politics, though some experts say national donors still need to pay more attention to local races. 'So local races and state House races, state Senate races, have always mattered,' said Republican strategist Jimmy Keady, who's worked on state legislative races. 'They're just becoming more important in the long run, because now they're directly influencing representation that is happening in the federal space. And I think the smart candidates are talking about that,' he added. Texas Republicans finally issued their proposal for a new House map, which will have major implications for lawmakers representing areas near Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, Houston and the southern border. The Texas GOP currently holds 25 seats, while Democrats hold 12. One other seat, represented by former Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Texas), awaits a replacement in a special election this November after his death in March. The new map would add five House seats that voted for President Trump by double digits on Election Day last year, increasing the possibility Republicans increase their majority in the congressional delegation to 30 House members. While the map is not set in stone, the larger redistricting process playing out in the Lone Star State has prompted other states — both red and blue — to consider doing middecade redistricting in response. More importantly, the broader battle over redrawing House maps is underscoring that state legislative elections can impact issues of national importance, including federal races. Mandara Meyers, executive director of The States Project, noted how Democrats narrowly lost key state House races in their bid to flip nine seats to gain a Democratic majority in the lower chamber in 2020. 'So little attention is paid to these state legislative races, and so few votes can make a difference — not just in winning or losing a single election, but in control of an entire legislative chamber,' she said. To be sure, state legislatures have been receiving growing attention for some time as they've become the epicenter over battles on issues such as election certification, school choice and abortion access. While Republicans have been focused on state legislative races — particularly during the 2010 cycle with their REDMAP program, which saw key GOP gains downballot in statehouses — Democrats have struggled to match their Republican counterparts in terms of attention and fundraising to these critical races. Even though Democrats have started to outperform in special elections, including in red states like Alabama and Iowa, several Democratic-aligned groups focused on state legislative elections said they've heard little interest from donors about the races, even amid the redistricting battle. 'A little bit,' Forward Majority CEO Leslie Martes told The Hill when asked if she had been hearing more from donors who were more interested in contributing, given the redistricting news. 'One of our problems is that state legislative resources are further down the list for donors, that they want to fund federal work first,' she said, noting 'the lack of dedicated funders for this work' is a problem. Mandara Meyers, executive director of The States Project, suggested a similar dynamic was playing out with her group. 'When we look at the issues that impact people's daily lives, we believe state legislators are the most important policymakers in the country, and yet again, much of the focus from donors, from the media, tends to be at the national level,' she said. 'So we are not seeing the kind of shift that we would like to see towards the importance of states.' In a memo released earlier this month by Heather Williams, the president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, she pointed out that there would be consequences for the party if Democrats continued to prioritize federal races at the expense of downballot ones. She specifically pointed to redistricting as one reason why members of the party needed to start paying attention to state legislative races, noting 'Democrats are still digging themselves out of the hole we found ourselves in after the GOP executed their $30 million REDMAP strategy that gained them 20 legislative chamber majorities and the ability to unilaterally draw over 340 congressional districts.' 'To have a shot at winning and maintaining a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives moving forward, Democrats must reassess our failed federal-first strategy and get serious about winning state legislatures ahead of redistricting — not just in the final months of 2030,' she said, 'but starting now.' Some Republican groups are similarly invoking redistricting as reason for their party to continue paying attention to the key downballot elections. 'The only way to halt the Democrats' relentless efforts to manipulate district lines is to win state legislative races cycle after cycle,' Mason Di Palma, spokesperson for the Republican State Leadership Committee, said in a statement, knocking Democrats for both advocating for redistricting commissions while also pushing for new map lines middecade in response to Texas. Despite the attention redistricting has received nationally, that issue isn't necessarily playing out in all states. Redistricting is particularly tricky for more evenly divided legislatures such as Minnesota and Pennsylvania. A Minnesota Senate Republican spokesperson told The Hill in an email that they couldn't 'comment on any campaign activity, including donor conversations' but noted of the state's maps that they 'have not been contested or discussed as needing change.' The Minnesota House has a 67-66 Republican edge, with Democrats looking to fill a vacancy after the assassination of former House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman. The state House has a power-sharing agreement between the two parties but a Republican speaker. The state Senate has a 33-32 Democratic edge and two vacancies. Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D) similarly told The Hill that 'it's not being discussed as much' on the legislative side. The state Senate has a 27-23 GOP edge, while Democrats hold a 102-101 majority in the state House. 'The bigger issue is holding onto the majority,' he said, referring to the state Supreme Court majority and its retention races this year, 'and making sure Gov. [Josh] Shapiro gets reelected, which — I think he's the ultimate backstop in that regard on redistricting.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
19 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Redistricting war underscores growing power of state legislatures
The brewing war over redistricting is underscoring the increasing importance of state legislatures heading into the midterms. Texas Republicans unveiled a new set of proposed House lines on Wednesday, creating five more Republican-friendly districts ahead of 2026. Legislators in states like New York and Maryland are similarly beginning to take measures into their own hands amid the redistricting tit-for-tat. The broader turmoil over changing congressional lines is putting a fresh spotlight on state legislatures' ability to shape federal politics, though some experts say national donors still need to pay more attention to local races. 'So local races and state House races, state Senate races have always mattered,' said Republican strategist Jimmy Keady, who's worked on state legislative races. 'They're just becoming more important in the long run, because now they're directly influencing representation that is happening in the federal space. And I think the smart candidates are talking about that,' he added. Texas Republicans finally issued their proposal for a new House map, which will have major implications for lawmakers representing areas near Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, Houston and the southern border. The Texas GOP currently holds 25 seats while Democrats hold 12. One other seat, represented by the late Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Texas), awaits a replacement in a special election this November. The new map would add five House seats that would have gone for President Trump by double digits, increasing the possibility Republicans increase their majority in the congressional delegation to 30 House members. While the map is not set in stone, the larger redistricting process playing out in the Lone Star State has prompted other states — both red and blue — to consider doing mid-decade redistricting in response. More importantly, the broader battle over redrawing House maps is underscoring that state legislative elections can impact issues of national importance, including federal races. Mandara Meyers, executive director of The States Project, noted how Democrats narrowly lost key state House races in their bid to flip nine seats to gain a Democratic majority in the lower chamber in 2020. 'So little attention is paid to these state legislative races, and so few votes can make a difference, not just in winning or losing a single election, but in control of an entire legislative chamber,' she said. To be sure, state legislatures have been receiving growing attention for some time as they've become the epicenter over battles on issues like election certification, school choice and abortion access. While Republicans have been focused on state legislative races — particularly during the 2010 cycle with their REDMAP program, which saw key GOP gains down ballot in state houses — Democrats have struggled to match their Republican counterparts in terms of attention and fundraising to these critical races. Even though Democrats have started to outperform in special elections, including in states like Alabama and Iowa, several Democratic-aligned groups focused on state legislative elections said they've heard little interest from donors about the races, even amid the redistricting battle. 'A little bit,' Forward Majority CEO Leslie Martes told The Hill when asked if she had been hearing more from donors who were more interested in contributing given the redistricting news. 'One of our problems is that state legislative resources are further down the list for donors, that they want to fund federal work first,' she said, noting that 'the lack of dedicated funders for this work' is a problem. Mandara Meyers, executive director of The States Project, suggested a similar dynamic was playing out with her group. 'When we look at the issues that impact people's daily lives, we believe state legislators are the most important policymakers in the country, and yet again, much of the focus from donors, from the media, tends to be at the national level,' she said. 'So we are not seeing the kind of shift that we would like to see towards the importance of states.' In a memo released earlier this month by Heather Williams, the president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), she pointed out that there would be consequences for the party if Democrats continued to prioritize federal races at the expense of down-ballot ones. She specifically pointed to redistricting as one reason why members of the party needed to start paying attention to state legislative races, noting 'Democrats are still digging themselves out of the hole we found ourselves in after the GOP executed their $30 million REDMAP strategy that gained them 20 legislative chamber majorities and the ability to unilaterally draw over 340 congressional districts.' 'To have a shot at winning and maintaining a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives moving forward, Democrats must reassess our failed federal-first strategy and get serious about winning state legislatures ahead of redistricting — not just in the final months of 2030,' she said, 'but starting now.' Some Republican groups are similarly invoking redistricting as reason for their party to continue paying attention to the key down ballot elections. 'The only way to halt the Democrats' relentless efforts to manipulate district lines is to win state legislative races cycle after cycle,' said Mason Di Palma, spokesman for the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), in a statement, knocking Democrats for both advocating for redistricting commissions while also pushing for new map lines mid-decade in response to Texas. Despite the attention redistricting has received nationally, that issue isn't necessarily playing out in all states. Redistricting is particularly tricky for more evenly divided legislatures like Minnesota and Pennsylvania. A Minnesota Senate Republican spokesperson told The Hill in an email that they couldn't 'comment on any campaign activity, including donor conversations' but noted of the state's maps that they 'have not been contested or discussed as needing change.' 2024 Election Coverage The Minnesota House has a 67-66 edge, with Democrats looking to fill a vacancy after the assassination of former House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman. The state House has a power-sharing agreement between the two parties but a Republican speaker. The state Senate has two vacancies right now but has a slight 33-32 Democratic edge. Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D) similarly told The Hill that 'it's not being discussed as much' on the legislative side. The state Senate has a 27-23 GOP edge while Democrats hold a narrow 102-101 majority in the state House. 'The bigger issue is holding onto the majority,' he said, referring to the state Supreme Court majority and its retention races this year, 'and making sure Gov. Shapiro gets reelected, which I think he's the ultimate backstop in that regard on redistricting.'
Los Angeles Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
How redistricting in Texas and California could change the game for House elections
WASHINGTON — Congressional redistricting usually happens after the once-a-decade population count by the U.S. Census Bureau or in response to a court ruling. Now, Texas Republicans want to break that tradition — and California and other states could follow suit. President Trump has asked the Texas Legislature to create districts, in time for next year's midterm elections, that could send five more Republicans to Washington and make it harder for Democrats to regain the House majority and blunt his agenda. Texas has 38 seats in the House of Representatives. Republicans now hold 25 and Democrats 12, with one seat vacant after the death of Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner in March. 'There's been a lot more efforts by the parties and political actors to push the boundaries — literally and figuratively — to reconfigure what the game is,' said Doug Spencer, the Ira C. Rothgerber Jr. chair in constitutional law at the University of Colorado. Other states, including California, are waiting to see what Texas does and whether to follow suit. The rules of redistricting can be vague and variable; each state has its own set of rules and procedures. Politicians are gauging what voters will tolerate when it comes to politically motivated mapmaking. Here's what to know about the rules of congressional redistricting: Every decade, the Census Bureau collects population data used to divide the 435 House seats among the 50 states based on the updated head count. It's a process known as reapportionment. States that grew relative to others might gain a seat or two at the expense of those whose populations stagnated or declined. States use their own procedures to draw lines for the assigned number of districts. The smallest states receive just one representative, which means the entire state is a single congressional district. Some state constitutions require independent commissions to devise the political boundaries or to advise the legislature. When legislatures take the lead, lawmakers can risk drawing lines that end up challenged in court, usually on claims of violating the Voting Rights Act. Mapmakers can get another chance and resubmit new maps. Sometimes, judges draw the maps on their own. By the first midterm elections after the latest population count, each state is ready with its maps, but those districts do not always stick. Courts can find that the political lines are unconstitutional. There is no national impediment to a state trying to redraw districts in the middle of the decade and to do it for political reasons, such as increasing representation by the party in power. 'The laws about redistricting just say you have to redistrict after every census,' Spencer said. 'And then some state legislatures got a little clever and said, 'Well, it doesn't say we can't do it more.'' Some states have laws that would prevent midcycle redistricting or make it difficult to do so in a way that benefits one party. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has threatened to retaliate against the GOP push in Texas by drawing more favorable Democratic seats in his state. That goal, however, is complicated by a constitutional amendment — approved by state voters — that requires an independent commission to lead the process. Texas has done it before. When the Legislature failed to agree on a redistricting plan after the 2000 census, a federal court stepped in with its own map. Republican Tom DeLay of Texas, who was then the U.S. House majority leader, thought his state should have five more districts friendly to his party. 'I'm the majority leader and we want more seats,′′ he said at the time. Statehouse Democrats protested by fleeing to Oklahoma, depriving the Legislature of enough votes to officially conduct any business. But DeLay eventually got his way, and Republicans replaced Democrats in five districts in the 2004 general election. In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that federal courts should not get involved in debates over political gerrymandering, the practice of drawing districts for partisan gain. In that decision, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said redistricting is 'highly partisan by any measure.' But courts may demand new maps if they believe the congressional boundaries dilute the votes of a racial minority group, in violation of the Voting Rights Act. Washington state Rep. Suzan DelBene, who leads House Democrats' campaign arm, indicated at a Christian Science Monitor event that if Texas follows through on passing new maps, Democratic-led states would look at their own political lines. 'If they go down this path, absolutely folks are going to respond across the country,' DelBene said. 'We're not going to be sitting back with one hand tied behind our back while Republicans try to undermine voices of the American people.' In New York, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul recently joined Newsom in expressing openness to taking up mid-decade redistricting. But state laws mandating independent commissions or blunting the ability to gerrymander would come into play. Among Republican-led states, Ohio could try to further expand the 10-5 edge that the GOP holds in the House delegation; a quirk in state law requires Ohio to redraw its maps before the 2026 midterms. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he was considering early redistricting and 'working through what that would look like.' Askarinam writes for the Associated Press.
Axios
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Houston and Harris County political races to watch
Politics are again heating up in Houston and Harris County. Why it matters: Upcoming races to watch include a hotly contested election to replace late U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner and another deciding general-election candidates to lead Harris County. Driving the news: Voters in the 18th Congressional District, a deeply Democratic-leaning district across a large swath of Houston, will vote for their representative during a special election Nov. 4. The seat has been vacant since Turner's death in March. Turner, the former Houston mayor, had served in Congress for only two months before he died. Who's in: The field consists of more than a dozen candidates, including frontrunners Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee, state Rep. Jolanda Jones and former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards. The special election will not include a primary. If a candidate does not receive more than 50% of the vote, the winner will be determined in a runoff election. A few months later, voters will decide Democratic and Republican candidates for Harris County judge in the March 2026 primary elections. The intrigue: It's unclear if two-term County Judge Lina Hidalgo, a Democrat, will run for reelection. She told the Houston Chronicle in May 2024 she would seek a third term, but in June she said she would make a formal announcement"in the coming weeks." So far, the Democratic field includes former Houston Mayor Annise Parker, who announced her bid for the Democratic nomination in June, and Houston City Council member Letitia Plummer, who announced she was running for the nomination this month after weeks of speculation.
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former Houston appointee claims flood-ravaged Camp Mystic is 'Whites-only' in viral video
A former appointee to a Houston city board recently came under fire for claiming that a Texas summer camp devastated by flooding was "White-only, conservative [and] Christian." Sade Perkins, a former member of the Houston Food Insecurity Board, made the claims about Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas, in a TikTok video this weekend. The office of Houston Mayor John Whitmire confirmed to Fox News Digital that Perkins posted the video. She was appointed by former Mayor Sylvester Turner in 2023, and her term expired in January 2025. In her video, Perkins began by predicting that she was "probably gonna get canceled for this." Camp Mystic Director Dies While Trying To Save Kids During Texas Flooding "But Camp Mystic is a Whites-only girls Christian camp," Perkins continued. "They don't even have a token Asian, they don't have a Token Black person, it is a all White, White-only conservative Christian camp." Read On The Fox News App "If you ain't White, you ain't right," she claimed. "You ain't getting in, you ain't going, period." Perkins added, "It's not to say that we don't want the girls to be found, whatever girls that are missing… but you best believe, especially in today's political climate, if this were a group of Hispanic girls….this would not be getting this type of coverage that they're getting. No one would give a f--k." The former appointee said that she intended "no shade" for the girls who were missing or killed due to the flood, and said that she "hope[s] they all get found," but suggested that there was too much sympathy for them. "They want you to have sympathy for these people. They want to get out of your bed and to come out of your home and to go find these people and to donate your money to go to find these people," Perkins said in the video. Republican Congressman Reunites With Daughters After Texas Camp Flooding, Thanks 'Countless Heroes' "Meanwhile, they are deporting your family members. Meanwhile, they're setting up concentration camps and prisons for your family members. And I need you all to keep that in mind before you all get out there and put on your rain boots and go find these little girls." Speaking to Fox News, Whitmire's office said that Perkins would not be reappointed to the board, and called her comments "deeply inappropriate." "The comments shared on social media are deeply inappropriate and have no place in a decent society, especially as families grieve the confirmed deaths and the ongoing search for the missing," the statement from the mayor's office read. "Mayor John Whitmire will not reappoint her and is taking immediate steps to remove her permanently from the board." At least 80 deaths have been confirmed from the catastrophic flood as of Sunday, a large number being children. At least 10 campers from Camp Mystic are still missing. Fox News Digital's Kyle Schmidbauer contributed to this article source: Former Houston appointee claims flood-ravaged Camp Mystic is 'Whites-only' in viral video
