My Big Fat Texas Forum Journal - Map points to smaller GOP majority in Texas House

Thought I would start a separate thread on the issue that MelissaG posted yesterday about the redistricting maps being out.

First Reading blog AAS 11/18/11
Map points to smaller GOP majority in Texas House

(snip)
The story of the last 24 hours in our fine state is redistricting — the maps that judges proposed to use in 2012 state House and Senate races.

The House map is, on the whole, better for Democrats than the one approved by legislators earlier this year. One Capitol source who knows this stuff told me that it creates 89 seats that Republican John McCain would have carried in the 2008 presidential election, while the map passed by the Legislature earlier this year created 97.

Republicans now hold 101 seats. One GOP source said the party could get to 92 under this map, but it would take some narrow wins. Another said it would reach 88 in a good GOP election cycle.

Remember when we thought 88 seats was a big majority? Remember that the House was split 76-74 just 13 months ago.

We have nowhere to go but up! Thank you DOJ challenging this repulsive power grab by the Texas GOP. We should do much better in a Presidential election year to start recovering from that horrible tsunami of 2010.