|
The constitutionally mandated redistricting of 2001 resulted in somewhat less controversially shaped districts compared to those in the 1996-2000 plan. All of the territory in Ellis and Navarro counties that was in District 24 was transferred to District 6, while parts of Districts 6 and 12 were transferred into District 24. Meanwhile, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex gained one of the two new districts (District 32) assigned to the state as a result of the population increase recorded in the 2000 census.
The relatively rational shape of the Metroplex's congressional districts produced during the 2001 redistricting did not result from a purely political process. Instead these district lines were included in the plan chosen in November 2001 by the U.S. District Court among several plans submitted. Earlier in the year the legislature failed to agree on a new map for congressional districts, and Governor Rick Perry refused to call a special session of the Legislature to take up the matter. After a series of legal actions in the state and federal courts, Plan 01151C was finally chosen for the 2002 elections.1
Despite the role of the courts, the new map still favored Democrats to some degree, giving them sixteen of the state's thirty-two seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 108th Congress (2003-2004). Martin Frost was able to hold onto his seat in the newly consolidated 24th District.
Next: Redistricting in the Dallas-Forth Worth Metroplex, 2003 >
|
