Posted on 07/15/2003 5:43:55 AM PDT by Theodore R.
West Texans gain audience with Dewhurst Redistricting up for debate
Click here to see the redistricting proposals
By JOHN FUQUAY AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst told a group of West Texans on Monday that he believes the governor will call a second special session on redistricting if legislators reach an impasse on drawing new congressional districts.
He also said Lubbock and Midland — currently in the same U.S. District 19 — appear headed for a split at the behest of state House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland.
"The speaker's primary concern is that the ultimate bill contain a seat that can be won by Midland/Odessa," Dewhurst said. "Unless there's some flexibility on your side, or the speaker changes his mind, we are headed for a lock-down."
Craddick was unavailable Monday for comment.
Dewhurst, a Republican, hosted eight business and political leaders from Lubbock in a private meeting with Republican state Sens. Robert Duncan of Lubbock and Troy Fraser of Horseshoe Bay and state Rep. Carl Isett, R-Lubbock.
The legislators also heard from officials representing Abilene, San Angelo, Big Spring, Lamesa, Colorado City and Brownwood.
"I think the bottom line is that redistricting is going to occur," former Lubbock Mayor Windy Sitton said. "The message is that we in West Texas need to come up with a compromise."
Republican Gov. Rick Perry called lawmakers into a special legislative session to redraw the congressional district lines. Legislators failed to do so in 2001, and the current map, which gave Democrats a 17-15 majority in the delegation, was drawn by federal judges.
Republicans, led by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Sugar Land, have said the state should have more Republican districts to reflect the state's voting trends.
The House-approved map could send as many as 21 Texas Republicans to Washington.
Texas legislators have said a map approved last week in the House weakens rural influence in Washington.
The House map was sent to the Senate Jurisprudence Committee, of which Duncan is chairman, where it is being redrawn.
Two-thirds of the Senate's 31 members must agree to hear a redistricting debate unless Dewhurst invokes a rarely used parliamentary procedure. The Senate's 11 Democrats could block a debate, and at least one Republican has said he might join them.
Sitton said a compromise among West Texans would mean pairing cities of similar size and interest.
"We all want to be paired in a like district," she said. "West Texas communities don't want to be paired with San Antonio, for example, and another doesn't want to be paired with Fort Worth. We feel like we'd be lost. We want to be stronger in numbers."
Jane Anne Stinnett, a longtime Republican Party advocate, current chairman of the Texas Agriculture Finance Authority and a member of the Lubbock County Hospital Board of Managers, said pairing also is a concern in smaller West Texas cities.
"The way it is now, Lubbock and Midland/Odessa are in the same district, and they're pretty well balanced as far as population," Stinnett said. "San Angelo and Abilene are in the same district, and they have balance.
"If Abilene is in with Lubbock, Lubbock would dominate, and if San Angelo was with Midland/Odessa, Midland/ Odessa would dominate. That's really the crux of it."
Isett said, "Abilene currently enjoys the distinction of being the largest city in a congressional district. ... In any other scenario, they become the second or third."
The House map puts Midland and Odessa, which currently are in District 19, in a new district that would be without a congressman. District 19 would be stretched to the east and take in territory currently represented by U.S. Rep. Charlie Stenholm, D-Abilene.
Midland leaders have long been unhappy about their treatment in congressional districts. The oil and gas interests of the Permian Basin have been split in as many as three districts at once.
A chance for a Midland congressman died in a special election in May when U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Lubbock, defeated Midland opponent Mike Conaway by 1 percent of the vote.
Isett, who voted for the House plan, said he believes the Permian Basin's ability to elect a representative is the key issue.
"The fights we have here in West Texas, we need to leave in West Texas and not bring to Austin," he said. "It all revolves around the Permian Basin."
The House plan pits Neugebauer against Stenholm, but Dewhurst tersely denied that Stenholm is a target of Republicans.
"If this is about Charlie Stenholm, we are wasting our time," Dewhurst said. "I think Charlie Stenholm is history."
Stenholm barely defeated a former Abilene city councilman in last November's general election, and his district is considered GOP territory.
As chairman of the Senate committee that will handle the Senate redistricting bill, Duncan has yet to weigh in with either support or criticism of the House plan.
"Ultimately, I will have to register a vote on the bill, but I think my role as chairman of the committee requires me to maintain a position of objectivity," he said.
"But I certainly have an opinion."
Dewhurst said he would appoint Duncan to a joint committee if a bill passes in the Senate.
jfuquay@lubbockonline.com 766-8722
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.