But this will be the first time since a 2013 U.S. Texas has had to defend its maps in court after every redistricting process since the Voting Rights Act took effect in 1965. In the Houston area, where the share of the white population is dwindling, the map kept six of 10 House districts as white-majority or plurality districts. Beth Van Duyne, who narrowly defeated Candace Valenzuela, a Democratic Black Latina candidate last year. In the Dallas area, it pulled Black and Latino residents in the northwest suburbs out of the district of Republican Rep. In west Texas’ competitive 23rd District, the map trimmed out areas near El Paso and San Antonio to lower the share of Latino voting-age residents by 9%. Monday's lawsuit, filed in the Western District of Texas, cites several congressional districts in which Republicans drew tortured lines to lower the share of Black and Latino voters in their party’s congressional districts. "We are confident that Texas’ redistricting plans will be upheld by the courts, and our office continues working with the Office of the Attorney General to ensure Texans are represented fairly.”
“It's no surprise that Democrats in Washington are attacking our state's redistricting plans,” Renae Eze said. Greg Abbott, a Republican, condemned the lawsuit. Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that it won’t referee partisan gerrymandering disputes - maps drawn to benefit a political party.Ī spokeswoman for Texas Gov. The lawsuit also plays out during a changed legal landscape for redistricting challenges. The litigation comes as Republicans and Democrats jockey for an edge in the once-a-decade redistricting process, which has already reached new levels of gerrymandering. “Decade after decade, courts have found that Texas has enacted redistricting plans that deliberately dilute the voting strength of Latino and Black voters and that violate the Voting Rights Act.” “This is not the first time that Texas has acted to minimize the voting rights of its minority citizens,” Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said during a news conference with Attorney General Merrick Garland. It also argues the maps pack Black and Latino communities into bizarre-shaped districts - a Dallas-area one is described as “seahorse” shaped - while preserving seats for white Republicans. The lawsuit notes that most of Texas’ population growth over the past decade came from Black, Latino and Asian people, but alleges that the new maps scatter these voters across districts, diluting their votes and denying them opportunities to choose their representatives. It's the Biden Justice Department's first legal action challenging a state's maps since states began redrawing their maps this year to account for population changes. The lawsuit claims the Republican-controlled state violated part of the Voting Rights Act in drawing new district boundaries for its congressional delegation and state legislature. Andrew Harnik/APĪUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The Justice Department sued Texas on Monday over its new redistricting maps, saying the plans discriminate against minority voters, particularly Latinos, who have fueled the state’s population boom. The maps passed by Texas' Republican-dominated Legislature favor incumbents and decrease political representation for growing minority communities that have driven growth in the nation’s largest red state. The Department of Justice has sued Texas over new redistricting maps, saying the plans discriminate against voters in the state's booming Latino and Black populations. Comments FILE - Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks at a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, on Nov.