What Next | Daily News and Analysis Don’t Mess With Texas’s Election Maps
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Aug 5, 2025 
Ari Berman, a voting rights correspondent at Mother Jones and an expert on gerrymandering, delves into Texas's recent election map redraws that may spark a nationwide gerrymandering arms race. He discusses the historical context of Texas politics, revealing tactics used to manipulate electoral boundaries. Berman raises alarms over how these strategies undermine democratic integrity, highlighting an ongoing power struggle that threatens fair representation as Republican dominance grows in a diverse state.
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Texas 2003 Redistricting Escape
- In 2003, Texas Republicans redrew congressional maps mid-decade under Tom DeLay's order.
- Democrats fled to Oklahoma to block it but eventually lost, marking aggressive gerrymandering's rise.
Legal Battles Over Texas Maps
- DOJ argued Texas's maps gave unconstitutional racial gerrymanders, but Texas Republicans deny racial motives.
- Supreme Court rulings hinder policing partisan gerrymandering, letting Texas justify maps on political grounds.
Texas Minority Representation Conflict
- Texas's population growth is mostly minority, but maps dilute their political representation.
- DOJ claims race used too much; civil rights groups argue Texas uses it too little.