Race and the Voting Rights Act in 2011 Texas Redistricting

1. Race and the Voting Rights Act in 2011 Texas Redistricting Redrawing the Maps Stanford Law School January 28, 2012

2. Partisanship? Not so much. • Republican v. Democrat is outmoded and not a reflection of reality • Latino population growth and political mobilization pose challenges to non-Latino incumbents and political party leadership of both parties • Start with some context . . .

3. Texas Population Change 2000-2010

4. Population Growth in Latino-majority Districts in South Texas

6. Texas Congressional Plan - DFW

7. CD26 “Lightning Bolt” by Race

8. Benchmark: Nueces County House Districts

9. State Proposed: Nueces County House Districts

10. State House Plan: “Antlers in El Paso”

11. “Antlers” Close-up

12. Failure to Add New “Valley” House Seat

13. What’s at Stake?

14. What’s at Stake?

15. What’s at Stake?

16. The Texas 3-Ring Circus • Perez v. Perry, challenge to Texas redistricting plans under Voting Rights Act and Constitution • Texas v. U.S., lawsuit filed by Texas seeking judicial preclearance of its redistricting plans under sec. 5 • Perry v. Perez, appeal to U.S. Supreme Court challenging court-drawn interim plans

17. The Big Top • Texas must hold primary elections • Texas election law calls for March 6 primaries and start of election process in late October 2011 • Urgency for political parties to hold conventions in June, 2012 • WDTX drew interim maps to accommodate primary schedule • Remand hearing yesterday and order for agreed maps by February 6

18. The Continuing Relevance of Race • Racially polarized voting in primary and general elections • Non-Latino Democratic incumbents concerned about losing the primary to a Latino challenger • Non-Latino Republican incumbents concerned about pressure to change policy positions and backlash from the base • Continued fracturing by partisans of both political parties to protect incumbents

19. Texas Redistricting: Partisanship v. Oppportunity • D leadership opposes Latino-majority CD35 because they don’t want Latinos to nominate a candidate other than a nearby incumbent • Rs gerrymander CD23 because they don’t want Latinos to elect a candidate other than the incumbent • Texas Latinos flexible in partisan affiliation.

20. Latino Mobilization • Rejection of fracturing to protect non-Latino incumbents of both political parties. • Litigation to enforce the protections of the Voting Rights Act: the opportunity to elect Latino candidates of choice • Recognition that political partisans invoke the VRA to advocate for partisan goals, not well-being of Latino voters

21. Why the Confusion? • Inability to recognize political mobilization of the Latino community • Distraction of media focus on partisanship instead of voting rights • Low visibility of court proceedings • Political party messaging intended to serve incumbents, not voters • Partisans suggest that the VRA has outlived its utility

22. Looking to the Future • Greater Latino participation in partisan primaries and associated transformation • Greater participation in general elections and the changing face of elected officials • Changes to political party platforms

23. THANK YOU • Nina Perales • VP for Litigation • MALDEF • nperales@maldef.org