Partisan Gerrymandering, Competition, and Cronyism in the Texas Legislature

[TexasTowelie]

Editor’s Note: Ana Jordan is the Democratic candidate for State Representative in House District 47. She has made the fight against partisan gerrymandering a centerpiece of her campaign. In this guest post, she explains how gerrymandering has reduced electoral competition and led to entrenched corruption, both within HD 47 and throughout the Texas Legislature.

Ever since I worked in the Texas Legislature in 1991, I have been interested in politics. But, after I started my legal career and my family, I had little time to follow it. I would occasionally read articles about politicians who were either corrupt, incompetent or wholly self-interested and I would ask myself, “Who elects these people?” And I would go back to work and forget about it. Then, while working as a Texas Assistant Attorney General in 2011, I defended the State of Texas in the redistricting litigation that followed the adoption of new district maps that were drawn, clearly and admittedly, for partisan gain. After I left the Attorney General’s Office in 2012, I watched the negative effects partisan gerrymandering had on our election system, our political process and on voters. And it all made sense. I understood.

Partisan gerrymandering is about rigging elections. The Texas Constitution currently allows incumbent politicians to draw their own districts. To do this, they use historical voter data coupled with precise map-drawing technology to identify voters they think will vote for them and those who won’t. Then they draw the district lines to include the voters they like and exclude the ones they don’t to ensure their re-election. Currently the process is legal, but there’s a reason that it’s done behind closed doors. When voters find out it’s happening, they disapprove.

In states like Arizona and Ohio, where popular initiatives are permitted, citizens from both sides of the political spectrum have come together to bypass their state legislatures by obtaining enough signatures to place redistricting reform directly on the ballot. In those red states, voters by large margins have approved removing the responsibility of redistricting from incumbent legislators and vesting it with independent commissions. Unfortunately, Texas does not have a popular initiative process through which we can amend our state constitution. Amendments to the Texas Constitution can only be initiated through legislative action.

That’s why I’m running for state representative. I want to lead the fight for redistricting reform because I believe that partisan gerrymandering poses a serious threat to the democratic principles on which our elections are based. The biggest problem with partisan gerrymandering is that it deliberately removes competition in general elections. When competition is extinguished, it’s not long before self-interested legislators begin to prioritize their own interests above all else, including the pursuit of the public good. House District 47 illustrates this point well.

Read more: http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/32410/guest-post-partisan-gerrymandering-competition-cronyism-texas-legislature

[Gothmog]

1. There is speculation that the Federal courts will issue ruling in redistricting case after election

One of the attorneys in that case told a democratic club that there will be a ruling after the November 8, 2016 election and that he hopes that this ruling will be in favor of the Democrats