A federal court in San Antonio has issued maps for United States House and Texas House seats that, barring further appeals, will be used for elections this year.
The new maps boost the number of congressional House districts that dip into Travis County to five, dramatically changing the district for long-time Austin Democrat Lloyd Doggett. Uncertainty over how the districts would be drawn (in turn leading to postponement of the Texas primary date) have thrown a wrench in election plans for candidates, including Doggett, who currently represents District 25.
Doggett is widely expected to run in the new District 35, which stretches from eastern Travis County down to San Antonio.
The House plan will create a heavily Republican district in the West and Southwest part of the county for current GOP state Rep. Paul Workman, while leaving winnable districts for the county's five Democrats. The San Antonio court had previously issued maps for Texas Senate races.
The five-way split doesn’t sit well with the region’s Democrats, who feel comparatively liberal Austin has been gerrymandered. Travis County Democratic Party chair, Andy Brown, says, “The Republicans again have tried to silence Travis County by splitting us into five districts … It’s a slap in the face of the majority of Travis County and Austin.”
You can view the entire map on the Texas Tribune website.
