Democratic Volley in Texas Mapping War

On the eve of a trial that could affect the balance of power in Congress, Democrats filed court papers Wednesday purporting to show that a vote to draw new congressional maps in Texas was not a local initiative but a coup orchestrated out of Washington.

The documents represent the latest volley in a public-relations war that has sizzled since Republicans took control of the Texas House last year and drew new congressional maps friendly to GOP candidates.

A coalition of Democratic Party advocates, minority organizations and local officials from across Texas filed a lawsuit charging that the new maps represented an abuse of power that disenfranchised hundreds of thousands of voters.

This morning, the dispute moves into a courtroom in Austin, where federal judges are scheduled to hear the case.

The documents released Wednesday included memos and e-mails written by GOP aides in Washington. They were obtained by Democrats after the November deposition of a top aide to U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), the recipient of several of the memos.

The papers showed, among other things, that Republican aides in Washington differentiated between a map that was proposed by lawmakers in Texas and “our plan” -- a more ambitious version designed to solidify the GOP majority in Congress.

Democrats hold a 17-15 lead in the state’s congressional delegation, the party’s last foothold in Texas. The GOP holds every statewide office and controls the Texas House and Senate for the first time in 130 years.

“There is no doubt that the proposed redistricting plan now being considered by the court reflects neither legislative intent nor the interests of the people of Texas,” said Gerry Hebert, an attorney representing organizations challenging the new maps.

Ted Royer, a spokesman for the Texas Republican Party, said the documents “show that the Democrats are desperate.”

“They are going to try to throw up a bunch of charges and see what sticks,” he added. “What these documents show is that members of Congress were interested in the redistricting process. Surprise, surprise.”

DeLay spokesman Jonathan Grella said he had not seen the papers and could not comment.

One memo written by a GOP aide called a proposed map that would have allowed certain Texas Democrats to win reelection and return to Congress “unacceptable,” although the map had been drawn by local lawmakers in Texas. If the Democrats, including U.S. Reps. Lloyd Doggett and Martin Frost, were allowed to retain their seats, the result would be “not worth all of the time invested into this project,” the memo said.

The documents showed that national GOP groups signed off on proposals before they reached Texas. The groups included the Republican National Committee and Americans for a Republican Majority, a political action committee founded by DeLay to raise money for conservative political candidates.

Democrats also said the memos showed that Republicans knew they were skirting the requirements of the Voting Rights Act by disenfranchising rural and minority voters by diluting their voting strength, a charge the GOP denied. Democrats said the map adopted by the Legislature in October created Democrat-friendly districts only along the U.S.-Mexico border and in urban areas.

The trial comes two weeks after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that congressional districts crafted by state Republicans there earlier this year were unconstitutional. In the interest of fairness, the court ruled, redistricting could be done only once every 10 years, when a new census came out. Instead, Colorado Republicans carved up districts to largely benefit GOP candidates after they won control of the state General Assembly.

That ruling was not binding in Texas, but struck at the heart of the case here because of its similar circumstances. Republicans took control of the Texas House in 2002, then redrew congressional districts, even though a court had completed that process two years earlier.