redistricting

Federal Judges Will Draw New Political Maps for Texas

By Ross Ramsey Nov. 8, 2011

Next year's congressional and legislative elections in Texas will probably be conducted using political maps drawn by federal judges instead of those drawn by lawmakers. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman
Will Redistricting Court Battles Create Electoral Confusion?

By Ross Ramsey Oct. 10, 2011

The redrawing of political district lines — which ideally happens just once a decade after a federal census — could create a series of crazy election cycles for Texas voters and candidates. It happened in the 1990s, and it could happen again now. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman
Drawing Contingency Maps

By Ross Ramsey Oct. 6, 2011

The federal redistricting panel in San Antonio is sharpening its crayons and asking the pack of lawyers in that case to make suggestions about corrective maps. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

By Evan Smith Oct. 1, 2011

Aaronson on the shrinking of state government, Aguilar on the controversy over in-state tuition for the children of undocumented immigrants, Galbraith on Rick Perry vs. the EPA, Grissom on a startling development in a 25-year-old murder case, Hamilton on Ken Starr's first year as president of Baylor, Ramsey on what inmates have to do with redistricting, Ramshaw on the state's crisis in insurance coverage, Root on Perry's presidential grind dance and Smith on obstacles to addressing childhood obesity: The best of our best content from Sept. 26-30, 2011. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman
Prisoners Don't Vote, but They Sometimes Count

By Ross Ramsey Sept. 30, 2011

Texas prison inmates can’t vote, so most counties ignore them. But they can change the value of your votes for Congress and the state Legislature. Full Story

Credit: Caleb Bryant Miller
An Eye on the Calendar

By Ross Ramsey Sept. 30, 2011

The state probably won't have political maps for federal and state legislators until November and possibly December, crowding the filing-fundraising-campaigning cycle into the holidays and perilously close to the March primaries. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman
Federal Court to Texas Election Officials: Wait

By Elizabeth Titus Sept. 29, 2011

State officials in Texas can hold off on election preparations, a federal court said Thursday, but with Texas' political maps still in limbo, they also didn't get a new set of deadlines to help them get ready for the 2012 elections. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman
In the Map Rooms

By Ross Ramsey Sept. 23, 2011

The Justice Department didn't find fault (put an asterisk here) with the Senate and State Board of Education redistricting maps from Texas, but told a federal court in Washington, DC, that it thinks the maps for the congressional delegation and for the Texas House go backwards in minority representation. Full Story

Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune
The Texas Weekly Index: March Fights, November Peace

By Ross Ramsey and Ryan Murphy Sept. 21, 2011

General elections in Texas will be less competitive than ever under the redistricting maps approved by the Legislature earlier this year. The political threats to incumbents, if any, will come in primaries and not in general elections. Full Story

Credit: Bob Daemmrich
Feds: Proposed Texas Maps Undermine Minority Voting Rights

By Ross Ramsey Sept. 20, 2011

The U.S. Justice Department said Monday that new political maps for the Texas House and the state's congressional delegation don't protect the electoral power of the state's minority populations as required by the federal Voting Right Act. Full Story

Credit: Bob Daemmrich
Maps Ensure Melees in March, Peace in November

By Ross Ramsey Sept. 16, 2011

General elections in Texas will be less competitive than ever under the redistricting maps approved by the Legislature earlier this year. The takeaway is simple: Texas has a strongly Republican map and the political threats to incumbents, if any, will come in primaries and not in general elections. Full Story

Credit: Erik Hersman
The Texas Weekly Index

By Ross Ramsey and Ryan Murphy Sept. 15, 2011

Lots of things affect election outcomes. Candidates. Money. Issues. Surprises. But some of the results are wired into district maps, through redistricting. Here's our charting of the political atmosphere — Republican or Democratic — in each of the House, Senate and congressional districts drawn by the Legislature this year. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman
Court Cartography

By Ross Ramsey Sept. 8, 2011

Don't expect a redistricting ruling out of San Antonio quickly. Some of the lawyers — and this requires more lawyers than a Hollywood divorce — say the Texas judges might hold their ruling until the DC courts are finished. That could be November, or even December. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman
Challenge to Texas Redistricting Opens in Federal Court

By Ross Ramsey Sept. 6, 2011

The state's new political maps are now in the hands of the federal government. An army of lawyers lined up before the start of federal hearings on Tuesday, lugging boxes of papers and briefcases bulging with the scribbled notes and other arguments they'll present over the next two weeks. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman
Why the Redistricting Lawsuit Matters

By Ross Ramsey Sept. 6, 2011

Because — as both Democrats and Republicans know well — the drawing of congressional, legislative and State Board of Education district lines determines, to a large extent, the outcomes of future elections. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

By Evan Smith Aug. 20, 2011

Aaronson analyzes TWIA claims and lawyer fees, Aguilar talks border security and voter ID with Chuy Hinojosa, Grissom on the latest inmate exonerated via DNA evidence, Hamilton interviews John Sharp on higher ed and the SEC, Murphy interactively maps the changes wrought by redistricting, Philpott on who's running Texas while Rick Perry is out campaigning for president, Ramsey on Perry's history of off-the-cuff remarks, Ramshaw on Perry's childhood years in Paint Creek, Root on Perry's extraordinary first week on the trail and Tan on even more ways Texas will change on Sept. 1: The best of our best content from Aug. 15-19, 2011. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman
Guest Column: Why Rick Perry is Bad for Hispanics

By Rafael Anchia Aug. 18, 2011

As the last legislative session demonstrated, the governor has a failing record on issues important to Latinos, including public education, expanded pre-K, college access, redistricting and immigration. Full Story
Updated: Jackson Chooses Congress Over State Senate

By Ross Ramsey Aug. 18, 2011

As expected, state Sen. Mike Jackson, R-La Porte, will run for Congress next year instead of for re-election to the Texas Senate. State Rep. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, may run for his Senate seat. Full Story

Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera
Interactive: The Texas Tribune Redistricting Viewer

By Ryan Murphy Aug. 17, 2011

Building on the success of our previous redistricting interactive, the Tribune has prepared a new version that includes the redistricting maps for the state House, Senate and State Board of Education. Full Story
State Seeks Clearance for Political Maps

By Ross Ramsey July 19, 2011

Texas bypassed the Obama administration's Department of Justice on Tuesday, opting to ask a panel of federal judges in Washington, D.C., to review the state's new maps for congressional, legislative and State Board of Education districts. Full Story

Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman