Illinois Republicans and Texas Democrats are preparing to file lawsuits under the Voting Rights Act that will increase their respective states’ Hispanic-majority districts.
It is evident that Latinos are disproportionately represented in Congress with only 24 House members (17 Democrats and 7 Republicans), but with over 50.5 million counted in the 2010 Census, the Hispanic population has begun its demand for more political influence.
In Illinois, the Hispanic population has risen to 2.03 million, however the redistricting plan released by the Democratic legislature last week retains the current one majority Hispanic and three majority-black districts and does not fairly represent the significant growth of Latinos. The lack of a second Hispanic district will be the cornerstone of the GOP effort to overturn the plan.
In Texas, Hispanics make up 38 percent of the state population. In their latest redistricting plan, Texas Republicans did not create a Hispanic-majority district in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, even though leaders of their congressional delegation have advocated one and Dallas and Tarrant counties have nearly 1.4 million Hispanics.
The Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund, actively involved in redistricting, has lashed out at the plans in Illinois and Texas. MALDEF Director of Litigation Nina Perales, criticized Illinois’s Democratic Legislature for dividing Latino neighborhoods and elevating “incumbency protection over respect for the Latino community.”
The upcoming lawsuit challenges in Illinois and Texas will be key tests of the surging Hispanic population across the nation and that community’s demand for more political influence.
We must not let this same tragedy happen at the local level as city councils, school districts, and commissioner courts are redistricted all over Texas. In Dallas City Council we have been blessed with a very open process that has led to the creation of many very positive maps to be considered. I think the best one has now been completed and can be seen at http://dallasredistricting2011.blogspot.com/ It creates 5 majority Hispanic Dallas City Council Districts with adult voting population percentages that average over 62%!! We MUST be watching each of these redistricting processes very closely. It is where the elections are won or lost.
What do you think of wPlan03, the most recent plan posted at http://dallasredistricting2011.blogspot.com/ ?