HOUSTON — It’s expected to be another big day over at the state Capitol in Austin. The Texas Senate will gavel in at 10 a.m. and it’s expected they’ll take up House Bill 4, the redistricting bill
It’s a bill that would redraw Texas’ congressional map, potentially giving Republicans up to five new seats in the U.S. House
Despite Democrats leaving the state to block a vote, this second special session, the redistricting bill is moving quickly.
On Thursday, the Texas Senate special committee on redistricting voted to advance House Bill 4 to the full Senate, but Texas Democrats have made it clear the fight isn’t over. During Thursday’s Senate committee on redistricting meeting, State Senator Carol Alvarado, who represents the East End area of Houston, questioned the objective behind the new congressional maps that could flip as many as five seats in the U.S. House to Republicans during next year’s midterm elections
“You talked about one of the goals being to keep districts compact,” she said. “But if you look at CD (Congressional District) 9, by extending all the way out to Liberty, it’s not compact.”
Meanwhile here at home, District 18 candidate Christian Menefee called out Republican leaders during a news conference.
“We’re stronger than their games,” he said. “They can redraw maps. They can suppress votes. They can do their best to play politics with our lives, but they cannot divide us. And we will not be silenced. We will not stop fighting and we will not let them tear this beautifully historical district apart.”
In the end, the bill moved out of committee in a 5-3 vote with one member absent. It now heads to the Senate floor where it will likely pass, but the stakes remain high for Democrats, who plan to challenge the maps in court.
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