Texas House redistricting committee’s Houston hearing draws criticism over absence of maps

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The Texas House’s redistricting committee visited Houston on Saturday to hear out local residents’ concerns on the state Legislature’s plans to consider redrawing nearly a handful of congressional districts in Texas — all of which are held by Black or Latino Democrats, three in the Houston area.

But the testimony portion of the hearing, limited to five hours, had to wait while Democratic committee members spent the first hour grilling committee Chair Cody Vasut on why they were there in the first place.

When Vasut, R-Angleton, welcomed the standing-room only crowd for the committee’s second “public testimony regarding a revised congressional redistricting plan,” state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, offered a correction.

“I just want to advise the public that they would not be testifying on a revised congressional redistricting plan, because there is no revised congressional redistricting plan,” she said.

The state has not publicly revealed proposed revisions of the state’s congressional district map, which was drawn in 2021 following the 2020 census. Critics of the mid-decade redistricting process raised questions about why the committee is hosting public hearings before maps are on the table.

State Rep. Jolanda Jones, D-Houston, noted to Vasut that the hundreds of people who signed up to speak — residents who were either crowded in the University of Houston’s Student Center or waiting outside — were “unable to testify as to how they will be negatively or positively affected by any maps, because there are no maps filed for anybody to testify to.”

Jones asked Vasut if Texans will have the same opportunity to speak up once the maps were made public, to which he said: “1,000%... There is no proposed map pending before the committee at this time for which public testimony will be offered, but we will have a hearing if such a map is filed.”

“I wish that this Legislature were working on redistricting fairness rather than gerrymandering,” said Jerome Wald, a longtime Houston resident of the 7th Congressional District. “Instead, I'm here to testify against this harmful attempt to redraw congressional districts in the middle of the decade.”

Wald asked Vasut for “at least five days to review the maps” once they’re made public before a hearing, and for “at least five days to review any proposed changes in the maps” ahead of a vote.

Testimony from Houston-area congressional leaders took up the next two hours. While some representatives questioned Vasut on the purpose of the hearing, U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, was assertive in her testimony that there wasn’t one.

“My answer is hell no, we don't need to be doing this,” said Garcia, who represents the 29th district, one of the districts the Legislature is targeting.

Redrawing the state’s congressional maps is one of 30 items Gov. Greg Abbott intends to get through during the 30-day special legislative session that started on Monday.

State House Democrats spent much of the mid-day hearing defending congressional districts that wouldn’t affect their own seats, and Garcia said, “You all should really be back in Austin passing legislation to support families in the Hill Country after the devastating flooding.”

“Instead, we're here today playing political games to appease the felon in the White House,” she added.

Garcia was joined by fellow Democratic U.S. Reps. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas and Lizzie Fletcher on a panel before the committee. U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-Houston, spoke as part of a subsequent panel — who were all asking the state to leave Houston’s districts alone.

President Donald Trump’s administration recently pushed Abbott and state representatives to give Republicans a stronger footing in the U.S. House ahead of the 2026 midterm election.

The Department of Justice put out a legal rationale, alleging that four Texas districts, including the 9th, 18th and 29th congressional seats in Houston, constitute illegal racial gerrymanders. (The fourth district in question is the 33rd Congressional District, currently held by U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth.)

DOJ lawyers in a letter argue that they’re coalition districts — when various racial groups are combined to constitute a majority — and do not qualify for federal protection under the Voting Rights Act.

Democrats are fighting hard against this because Republicans can work to flip reliably blue Houston-based districts by moving left-leaning precincts into neighboring Republican districts in the county’s suburbs.

State Rep. Jon Rosenthal, D-Houston, vice chair of the House Committee on Redistricting, pointed to the very district the hearing was being held as an example of what’s being threatened: the historic 18th Congressional District.

“When I say historic, I mean historic,” Rosenthal said, naming previous Black representatives the district has elected. “This district gave us Barbara Jordan, George “Mickey” Leland, Craig Washington, Sheila Jackson Lee and the late great Sylvester Turner.”

“Three of these four districts called out just happen to be represented by African American representatives — tell me that that is not a racist attack on our Black reps.,” Rosenthal said.

Redrawing districts that dilute the voting power of communities of color is sure to draw legal complaints. Several Democratic seats in Houston were explicitly drawn to allow such communities to elect a candidate of their preference by ensuring they constitute a majority in a congressional district, in accordance with the Voting Rights Act. The 29th Congressional District which is about 75% Latino, for example, was drawn as a majority-Latino district has only ever elected Democrats to Congress.

The 2020 census showed that Texas’ population grew by nearly 4 million people, and 95% of that growth is made up of people of color in blue urban areas. But, Democrats argue, the Legislature seems to be making moves that secure more Republican seats. In Houston, population growth is being concentrated in Asian American voters.

Despite making up over 7% of Harris County and over 22 percent of neighboring Fort Bend County in the 2020 Census, Asian Americans do not constitute a plurality in any Houston-based congressional district — an example of how certain voting groups can be divided by district lines and have their voting power watered down.

After a push from two Texas Democrats, the state Senate’s redistricting committee sent a letter to U.S. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, requesting her to testify before them.

Nine of Texas’ 38 congressional districts contain part of Harris County — four represented by Democrats, and five by Republicans.

But Democratic committee representatives on Saturday reminded Republicans that just a few years ago, they were content with the state’s congressional map.

They pointed to statements from Republican state leaders — including Attorney General Ken Paxton and state Sen. Joan Huffman, who chairs the Senate redistricting committee — who said in 2021, when the state’s current legislative maps were passed, that they drew the districts “race blind.”

That’s left Democrats confused about why Republicans are now alleging that the maps are unfair — maps Vasut voted in favor of in 2021.

"You're aware that the Republicans drew this map that now the Republicans saying are now illegal,” said state Rep. Armando Walle, D-Houston.

Lynita Robinson, a Houston resident, told the committee that there’s a lot on the line when it comes to redrawing district lines.

“When you fracture and manipulate districts, you weaken our collective power to push for economic opportunity for fair wages, infrastructure and education,” she said. “You undercut racial justice by silencing the very voices that continue to call out discrimination in health care, housing and policing.”

“Let's not allow the maps to become another full tool of injustice,” she added. “Let's make a blueprint for equity.”

Washington correspondent Gabby Birenbaum contributed to this report.

Disclosure: University of Houston has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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