The Texas GOP Proposes Amendments to Congressional Maps
Facing up to Texas’ booming suburbs turning bluer, Republicans on Monday proposed new U.S. House maps that would fortify their slipping grip and shrink the number of seats where the majority of voters are Hispanic — even as they fuel the state’s blistering growth.
Texas was a big winner in the 2020 Census. Its surging population, driven by nearly 2 million new Hispanic residents, made it the only state awarded two additional congressional seats. Texas will now have 38 House members, and 40 electoral votes.
But Democrats and minority rights groups accused GOP mapmakers of tossing aside those rapidly shifting demographic trends that are threatening decades of Republican dominance. Persons of color accounted for more than nine of every 10 new Texas residents over the last decade, but the proposal reduces the number of Hispanic majority districts from eight to seven.
