Spring Break
Justice Dept. calling on lawmakers
By: Kelley Shannon
Issue date: 11/20/03 Section: News
AUSTIN - Some South Texas lawmakers said Wednesday they have been called by U.S. Justice Department officials asking them to weigh in with their objections to the new Republican-backed congressional redistricting plan.
One state legislator, Rep. Jim Solis, a Democrat from San Benito, said he will be in Washington on Friday for meetings with officials at the federal agency, which must sign off on the redistricting map if it is to be used in Texas elections.
Solis and other Hispanic lawmakers said they believe the plan, approved by the Texas Legislature in October after months of bitter debate, violates the federal Voting Rights Act, which protects minority districts.
Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, said he also has spoken with a Justice Department official, Luz Lopez Ortiz, and told her of his objections to the plan. She was interested in having him put his objections in writing, Lucio said.
"I believe the plan will, among other things, cause serious retrogression to Hispanic voting strength in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, an area with perhaps the fastest growth of Hispanic population in the entire country," Lucio wrote in a letter to Joseph D. Rich, chief of the agency's voting rights section.
The Republican plan attempts to "squeeze in" a new Hispanic district and make certain districts stretch from the Texas-Mexico border north into Austin and Central Texas, Lucio wrote. Those districts could favor candidates from the northern end, leaving his border region behind in representation, Lucio said.
"If we don't have somebody at the table, we're going to be losing out on the discussions and the compromises that are taking place," Lucio said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for Republican Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said despite the calls from the Justice Department to the South Texas lawmakers, the state's attorneys remain confident the new redistricting plan will be upheld.
"We feel confident that the plan will be upheld by the Department of Justice and will be upheld by the three-judge panel in the courts," said spokeswoman Angela Hale.
One state legislator, Rep. Jim Solis, a Democrat from San Benito, said he will be in Washington on Friday for meetings with officials at the federal agency, which must sign off on the redistricting map if it is to be used in Texas elections.
Solis and other Hispanic lawmakers said they believe the plan, approved by the Texas Legislature in October after months of bitter debate, violates the federal Voting Rights Act, which protects minority districts.
Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, said he also has spoken with a Justice Department official, Luz Lopez Ortiz, and told her of his objections to the plan. She was interested in having him put his objections in writing, Lucio said.
"I believe the plan will, among other things, cause serious retrogression to Hispanic voting strength in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, an area with perhaps the fastest growth of Hispanic population in the entire country," Lucio wrote in a letter to Joseph D. Rich, chief of the agency's voting rights section.
The Republican plan attempts to "squeeze in" a new Hispanic district and make certain districts stretch from the Texas-Mexico border north into Austin and Central Texas, Lucio wrote. Those districts could favor candidates from the northern end, leaving his border region behind in representation, Lucio said.
"If we don't have somebody at the table, we're going to be losing out on the discussions and the compromises that are taking place," Lucio said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for Republican Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said despite the calls from the Justice Department to the South Texas lawmakers, the state's attorneys remain confident the new redistricting plan will be upheld.
"We feel confident that the plan will be upheld by the Department of Justice and will be upheld by the three-judge panel in the courts," said spokeswoman Angela Hale.
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