In 2003, Rep. Richard Pena Raymond of Texas fought against Republican constituencies and even to the U.S. Supreme Court. Now he’s doing it again. But he stayed when his fellow Democrats fled the nation.
The Texas hearing draws insightful debate over rezoning plans
Texas lawmakers and members expressed sharply divided opinions at the Senate hearing over a resubmitted rezoning plan in favor of the Republican Party.
- Texas Republicans want to push for a rare mid-term planning plan to redraw maps of Congressional districts.
- This push will turn five districts into more Republican-friendly seats, giving the GOP an edge in next year’s midterm elections.
- To stop the move, Democrats fled to Illinois and other states, preventing Congress from having enough lawmakers to do business.
- But a few Democrats are behind in fighting the plans in Austin.
Austin – State Sen. Richard Pena Raymond, a South Texas Democrat, has spent the past week wandering around the halls near the Texas Capitol, hearing and trying to avoid a U.S. Supreme Court showdown.
On the floor of a nearby home, Republican lawmakers piloted to launch an unusual medieval rezoning effort. They were able to create a new map of the US home district, which could give the GOP five more seats, and help the parties maintain control of the narrowly divided rooms.
Most of Raymond’s Democratic colleagues left Texas in an attempt to destroy the quorum needed to pass the measure. But he stayed behind, cajoling, convincing, pressured, and begging on how to get out of the crisis.
For Raymond, it’s once again deja vu.
In 2003, when Texas Republican lawmakers once again tried to redraw districts other than norms of old processes following their respective new census., Raymond attended the Constituency Commission, becoming a passionate voice of the opposition. When the measure was passed, he was appointed plaintiff in a case that ended before the U.S. Supreme Court.
This time, he said the stakes were even higher.
“Two to 30 people were a big deal. We went through a lot,” Raymond, 64, told USA Today from his first floor office in Capitol. “We know that was making history, and what’s going on now will make history.”
Mid-term battle encourages a showdown in Texas
The current showdown began when President Donald Trump and White House officials urged Texas Republican leaders to redraw the voting map to add five new Republican-friendly seats to the U.S. House. Democrats traveled to Illinois – Even in New York and Massachusetts – To prevent Republicans from reaching the quorum of the 150-person Congress needed to do business.
If a Texas Republican succeeds in adding five GOP seats to his US home, a Trump-friendly room could allow the president to continue one of the most aggressive and destructive agendas in modern presidential history. A Democrat majority in January 2027 opens the door to Congressional investigation, Legislative Paralysis – Third Perforations each.
Gov. Governor Greg Abbott has threatened to arrest absent lawmakers, and the U.S. Department of Justice also said it would attempt to track AWOL representatives. And on August 8th, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called on the state Supreme Court to take office with 13 Democrats for their absence from the Capitol, claiming they abandoned their seats when they fled the state.
GOP’s Texas PowerPlay launched a rezoning arms race as Blue State leaders create democratically trended home seats to counter Texas, and lawmakers from other red states, including Indiana and Missouri, consider taking part in the fight. Vice President JD Vance met with Indiana lawmakers on August 7 and reportedly urged them to redraw the map, and Florida Republican leaders also said they would form a committee to redraw the district.
In 2003, Texas Republicans attempted to redraw the map three years after census data was released, urging state Democrats to retreat to the Holiday Inn in Oklahoma and retreat from Texas beyond the state line and out of reach of troopers who could force them.
Raymond joined a colleague in Oklahoma after fighting the bill on the committee. During committee hearings, he was a sometimes lonely Democrat, opposed Republican moves and burned eyewitnesses about the legality and fairness of gerrymandering maps for partisan interests. His goal was to get his comments and questions on the official records, as well as their replies.
“It’s really just going to pass them through the ringer and build a court record,” he recalled. “From start to finish, I was very involved in it.”
The lawmakers eventually approved the new map. However, a lawsuit was filed and the case was caught in the U.S. Supreme Court. The 5-4 decision supported Texas’ rezoning plan, but some ruled that it violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting Latino voters’ rights. The proposal to split Raymond’s hometown, Laredo, in half, has been removed.
“It was a 50-50 victory, but it was a victory,” he said.
“Try to talk to everyone.”
On August 8th, Raymond walked a short distance from his first floor office to his house room on the second floor. He wrapped around the desk, chatted with fellow Democrats and Republican lawmakers, tapping others on the back and joking with others.
He said there is a proverb that he is popular in the Spanish-speaking border city he came from. Speaking is understoodor “Talking to each other allows you to understand each other.”
“I’ve always tried my whole career and tried to talk to people. “That hasn’t changed.”
Raymond, a state legislator since 2001, is one of the most lifelong Democrats in Congress. Known as a moderate, he is a fan of a few miles from Laredo along the US-Mexican border and represents a highly Latin district with around 183,000 residents.
Last year, Trump managed nearly sweeps in Texas Border County, a traditional Democratic base, and acquired 14 of the 18 counties on the border, including Webb County, including Laredo.
Trump’s victory along the border was the biggest presidential candidate in 30 years. He surpassed George W. Bush of Texas when he acquired governor in 2004.
Changing loyalty at the border puts politically at risk that representatives from these districts, such as Illinois Gov. JB Pretzker, who essentially embraces the Texas Democrats, are in a political position too closely with people from the People’s Democratic Party, said American university politician Mark Jones.
Jones said five of the six Democrats who fell behind last week came from the southern Texas border district. Raymond, who is re-election next year, is likely to like to keep his distance, he said.
Jones said Texas Republicans appear to be focusing on not changing the map of their new district despite the efforts of Raymond and someone else.
“There’s a very unlikely idea that you can stay behind and map out so that it doesn’t affect democratic expression,” he said.
Raymond admitted that unlike Sissiphus, who rolls rocks over the hills of Tartarus in Greek mythology, he faces the challenges of Hercules. His deepest fear, he said, is that the matter will end before the Supreme Court again.
Still, he will continue to challenge. When it feels overwhelming, he said, he tries to remind the other members of his country and nation equally love – and is trying to make it better.
“We know that we don’t always agree with the way we get there, but we don’t doubt that,” Raymond said. “I always start from that common place.”
The session on August 8 was short: 8 minutes’ small gavel to small gavel. Recognizing that there is no quorum yet, House Speaker Dustin Burrows has postponed the missing members until Monday, August 11th.
After Burrows stared at the meeting, Raymond began talking to the other lawmakers.
Follow Jervis on Twitter: @mrrjervis.
Contributed by: Zack Anderson, USA Today.
