Reps: Redistricting could negatively impact Rio Grande Valley1 September 2010
Steve Taylor
Rio Grande Guardian
WESLACO, Sept. 1 - GOP efforts to create a new conservative congressional district in Corpus Christi could result in the Rio Grande Valley losing its two experienced U.S. House members, Solomon Ortiz and Rubén Hinojosa.
That was one of the scenarios painted by Texas House members at an in-depth meeting about redistricting hosted by the Weslaco Area Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by TXU on Wednesday. The scenario seemed to take members of the audience by surprise.
“I am stunned. I had no idea this was going on, that we could lose our congressmen,” Mercedes Mayor Joel Quintanilla told the Guardian, at the end of the meeting. “It is a huge concern. We would lose so much. We are a fast growing region with strong needs. We cannot afford to lose representation.”
The three Texas House members who gave their views on redistricting were Armando “Mando” Martinez, D-Weslaco, Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, and Veronica Gonzales, D-McAllen.
Gonzales was not able to contribute as much as she would have liked to the debate because she had to leave half way through the meeting to catch a plane. Martinez and Peña spoke with some expertise as they sit on a joint House committee that is looking at the redrawing of political lines in Texas.
Peña gave the most detailed explanation on how the Valley could lose political clout in Washington. He said some Republicans want to create a new Hispanic-opportunity, conservative-leaning district that would be anchored in Corpus Christi. In order to do that, Nueces County would have to be split from the Valley.
Under the plan, Ortiz’s district would be anchored in Brownsville, Peña said. However, to make up the numbers for the loss of Nueces County, Ortiz’s district would have to move westward into Hidalgo County. Peña said Weslaco could find itself split between two congressional districts. “That scares the hell out of me,” said a Weslaco resident in the audience. “Me, too,” said Peña.
However, Ortiz’s district could be moved even further west than Weslaco, depending upon what the Census count shows. “It may go as far west as San Juan or Pharr,” Peña said.
If that happened, Hinojosa’s District 15 seat would have to move westward too. The Mercedes Democrat could be moved out of his traditional base of Edinburg, the Mid Valley and the Delta region, potentially forcing him to run in McAllen, Mission and western Hidalgo County, much of which he has never represented before. This could make him vulnerable to a challenge in the Democratic Party primary.
Under this scenario, Congressman Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, would be moved out of Hidalgo County altogether, Peña explained.
“I’m not telling you it will happen. I’m telling you it could happen. Weslaco is in danger if being split and we need to fight to prevent that from happening,” Peña said of the Republican-backed plan.
Peña is a member of the House Committee on Redistricting. He has been participating in redistricting hearings across the state, including three in South Texas. He explained the current state of affairs.
“The Republicans are in control,” Peña said, pointing out that the GOP holds every statewide office in Texas as well as majorities in the state House and Senate. “When the (congressional) map is drawn they (Republicans) are going to have a significant say on how that map looks.”
Peña said that unlike Nueces County, where the population is “flat,” Hidalgo County is growing fast. For this reason, he said, it deserves greater representation, not less. However, he pointed out that redistricting is not conducted based on fairness. “It is a game of politics. We are historically a Democratic region and so we are the first ones likely to get cut to our disadvantage because we are not in control of the process,” he said.
Peña concluded his remarks by claiming Republicans are trying to make a clean sweep of the Texas House seats in Nueces County. “Corpus has trended conservative. There is a growth of conservative Republicans in Corpus. The real shocker of this next cycle is there is a potential for Corpus to go all Republican based on redistricting,” he said.
Martinez said he was concerned about South Texas’ loss of seniority in Washington if the region’s congressional lines are radically redrawn.
“In Congress, seniority matters,” said Martinez, pointing out that Ortiz is among the 40 most experienced members in the U.S. House. He asked the audience if a freshman House member could bring in as much as federal funding for the ports of Brownsville and Corpus Christi as Ortiz can and does. He then answered his own question. “Probably not, the funding may decrease. We need to think about seniority.”
If Ortiz’s district is anchored in Brownsville, “a Hidalgo County candidate could not win that seat,” Martinez said.
Because the population of Texas has shot up over the past decade, it could be rewarded with three or four extra congressional seats. Rep. Gonzales said the Valley deserves to have one of them because it is one of the fastest growing parts of the state.
“We have the opportunity to gain an extra congressional seat and even, possibly, another state representative seat. If we gain another congressional seat it means more money for the Rio Grande Valley. The Valley needs to get as much representation as it can,” she said.
However, if Nueces County is split from the Valley, Hidalgo County has no chance of anchoring a new congressional seat, Gonzales warned. She said Corpus Christi would lose out too, because Ortiz’s seniority would be missed.
“They lose and we lose. They lose because they lose a senior congressman. We lose because we have lost their population to sustain another congressman. That can be dangerous for us,” Gonzales said.
