GOP's Texas map has Austin residents sharing district with rural Texans 300 miles away
GOP's Texas map has Austin residents sharing district with rural Texans 300 miles away
GOP's Texas map has Austin residents sharing district with rural Texans 300 miles away
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/34135197
As Texas Republicans try to muscle a rare mid-decade redistricting bill through the Legislature to help Republicans gain seats in Congress -- at President Donald Trump's request -- residents in Austin, the state capital, could find themselves sharing a district with rural Texans more than 300 miles away.
The proposed map chops up Central Texas' 37th Congressional District, which is currently represented by Democrat Rep. Lloyd Doggett, will be consumed by four neighboring districts, three of which Republicans now hold.
One of those portions of the Austin-area district was drawn to be part of the 11th District that Republican Rep. August Pfluger represents, which stretches into rural Ector County, about 20 miles away from the New Mexico border.
Austin's districts are so cracked, its incredible. You've got one set of dorms on the UT campus sharing a district that runs all the way to the US Mexico border and another set that share a district with Huntsville Prison. Bust out a map of the State House and State Senate districts and its even worse. The entire philosophy of the program seems to revolve around disenfranchising as many people in the state capital as possible.