Thanks to the political maps drawn by lawmakers last year, only a handful of Congress and the Texas Legislature races will be competitive in November. Analysis by rossramsey:
Credit:Editor's note: If you'd like an email notice whenever we publish Ross Ramsey's column,The biggest blow to Texans’ voting rights isn’t found in the election laws. It’s in the political maps, where voters’ choices are overwhelmed by the partisan desires of politicians.
Politicians have gotten so good at drawing political maps that they’re spoiling democracy. Few of the races for the Texas Legislature and the state’s congressional delegation are competitive in November; districts are drawn for either Republicans or Democrats to win, with few designed to promote competition between the parties.
The effect? Rather than casting a wide net to attract voters, politically polarized legislative bodies produce polarized maps that appeal to small groups of partisans who vote in primary elections, like the ones in March that drew less than 1 in 5 registered voters this year. More numerous general election voters are left with uncompetitive November choices in districts drawn for one party or another, but not both.
The average Republican candidate in that 2020 election did better than Trump, winning by 9.1 percentage points. In the new House map, House District 112, where state Rep., R-Richardson, is the incumbent, those candidates won by 7.9 percentage points — better than Trump’s performance. That’s the most competitive Republican district on the House map, but based on recent history, Democrat Elva Curl will have a hard time taking it away.
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