Will Texas lawmakers have a special session to redraw Congressional districts?
Members of Congress and state lawmakers have been all abuzz this past week ever since the New York Times reported on a plan to have Texas legislators redraw the state's Congressional districts to help Republicans gain more seats in the Lone Star State.
The Times report said President Trump's advisers want Governor Greg Abbott to call lawmakers into a special session to come up with a new map of Congressional districts. If Republicans could gain more seats in Texas, the thought is that it would blunt any potential gains by Democrats in U.S. House seats in other states during the midterm elections next year.
Most of the 38 Congressional districts in Texas are considered safe for the Republicans and Democrats who represent them. A federal judge in El Paso is now holding a trial to determine if these Congressional districts that were drawn and approved in 2021 are constitutional.
In an interview for Eye On Politics, Texas Representative Jeff Leach, R-Allen, told CBS News Texas he's heard about this issue. "I have read the story and have seen all the news that's been going around and have been in communication with our counterparts in Washington and with Governor's office and the Speaker's office, Lieutenant Governor. We're going to do what's right for Texas and we're going to do what's lawful," said Leach. "We're going to see what happens over the next few weeks. If the Governor calls us back into special session, whether it's on redistricting or any other matter, when we'll show back up to Austin and we'll do our jobs."
U.S. Representative Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, told CBS News Texas that he saw the story and that he doesn't know much else about it. "Even a lot of our Republican colleagues don't know much about this. I know they're supposed to meet and talk about this. If the courts don't demand a redraw, it seems very communistic. I think that it's wrong. I think that it's absolutely nuts."
In an interview for Eye On Politics, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said he has not been involved in the conversations pertaining to this story. "I saw the same report you referenced. It's clear the state has the authority to do this, to redistrict mid-decade. You'll remember back 20 years ago, in 2003, I was the Solicitor General of Texas, the chief lawyer for the state in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and Texas did this back in the early 2000's, and it was challenged in court. I defended it in court. It ended up going to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the argument that the Democrat plaintiffs brought was that the state could not redistrict in the middle of the decade. We won in the U.S. Supreme Court. I argued the case and we won. The State has the authority to do so. That's a decision for the state legislature, and for the Governor to make."
Governor Abbott has not commented on the New York Times story.
Watch the full interview with Rep. Leach below:
Watch the full interview with Rep. Veasey below:
Watch the full interview with Senator Cruz below:
This week's full episode can be found below:
