Blake Farenthold and Congressional District 27, which stretches from Bastrop in Central Texas, south to Corpus Christi on the Gulf Coast.
The congressional district held by Blake Farenthold (R-Corpus Christi) is one of two that state legislators will have to withdraw before the 2018 elections, ruled a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. District 27 as well as District 35, which stretches from San Antonio to Austin, dilute the voting power of minorities, violating the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act, according to the ruling. Texas has 36 congressional districts.
Seated in San Antonio, the court ruled that the district map, which was adopted in 2013 based on the 2010 census numbers, was part of a deliberate strategy to discriminate against minority voters. The state has three business days to tell the court whether or not the maps will be redrawn. If not, a court hearing will be held Sept. 5 to discuss options for a new map.
The court could oversee a redistricting process that would include negotiations between those who sued to change the district boundaries and the state’s attorneys, who want to keep them.
Whatever happens Sept. 5, the state has the right to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, a path Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he plans to take.
“We look forward to asking the Supreme Court to decide whether Texas had discriminatory intent when relying on the district court,” Paxton said in a statement.
Latino voters in District 27 were “intentionally deprived of their opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice,” read the court decisions. In District 35, currently held by Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin), the ruling states that the Republican-controlled legislature used race to create a district “without a compelling state interest.” Judges said the map created “an impermissible racial gerrymander.”
The battle over Texas’ congressional district is now in its sixth year as it slowly makes it way through the courts. In 2½ years, the 2020 census will necessitate another redrawing of districts.
A similar case challenging district lines for state-level offices is still on the docket to be heard by the same court.
