Census gains could give state more clout

[Judi Lynn]

Jan. 16, 2007, 11:53PM
Census gains could give state more clout
If Texas gets 4 new House seats, as predicted, it will mean 4 more electoral votes

By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Texas is on track to be the biggest winner when all 435 House seats are reallocated after the 2010 Census, getting as many as four new districts and Electoral College votes because of population gains.

And that, in turn, will translate into more federal dollars and increased political clout for Texas.

The growth assures Texas a gain of at least two seats, according to recent analyses of Census data by two redistricting-consulting and data-analysis firms.

If population increase continues in similar fashion through the end of the decade, as expected, Texas will definitely add a third and possibly a fourth seat, said Clark Bensen, a Virginia analyst who counsels Republicans on redistricting strategy through his firm, Polidata.

Kimball Brace, who typically advises Democrats through his Election Data Services, also projects that Texas will pick up three seats during the once-a-decade rebalancing in the House. Texas gained two seats after the 2000 decennial count and now has 32 House members.
(snip/...)

http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4475836.html

[ClintonTyree]

1. Oh wonderful....

let's give the home state of the Bushes and hundreds of other psychotic right wing nut cases more clout in our government. Just what we need. I say it's time to allow Texas to secede from the Union and form their own country. Then we can invade them and steal their oil.

[Stevepol]

2. A lot of this rise in population is Hispanic, and if the vote were counted...

fairly, it would be a real windfall for the Dems.

Pass the laws requiring paper and REAL AUDITS and TX will become if not Dem, pretty darned close to it.

[geomon666]

3. You don't think displacement from New Orleans is a factor?

I mean that's what I thought as soon as I heard this story.

[CarlWoodward]

4. Texas

Texas was a Democratic stronghold until fairly recently, and with the increase in Hispanic immigration and continued relocation from northern cities, there's no reason to think that the Lone Star State couldn't become a major Democratic asset.

And don't forget - Bush ISN'T A TEXAN. He's from Connecticut, and his whole "swaggering Texan" thing was largely created by Karl Rove.

[damntexdem]

5. Although we're a red state, ...

a lot of those new inhabitants are likely to support Democrats. The rub is whether they can, and will, vote.

[fidgeting wildly]

6. That is the rub. Here's another:

Will the district lines be drawn fairly after 2010, and if so, will the pigs leave them alone or will they redraw the lines yet again to suit their own purposes?