As soon as the newly-drawn congressional district map was released to the public this week, Ramon Telles zoomed in on his neighborhood.
Telles lives in Rattan Creek, a suburban pocket north of Austin that sits squarely in Democratic Congressman Lloyd Doggett鈥檚 District 37. But under the proposed map, the neighborhood is diced into thirds.
Telles鈥� home would land in District 17, which snags a small section of the Austin area before stretching past Waco. Telles鈥� neighbors a few streets away would be in District 11, which ends some 335 miles west near Odessa. Telles鈥� local H-E-B would be part of District 10, which ends just three counties from the Texas-Louisiana border.
鈥淲e are concerned now because 鈥� under this map if it鈥檚 approved there鈥檚 basically three different congressional offices we would have to reach out to if there was some sort of issue that needed attention rather than the one congressman who is familiar with our district,鈥� Telles said. 鈥淲e just don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 reasonable or fair really.鈥�
Telles, who is also a precinct chair for Williamson County Democrats, said it鈥檚 been helpful 鈥� particularly in times of natural disaster 鈥� to have a representative that lives nearby. Under the new map, that representative could live hundreds of miles away.
Under the current map, most Austinites are either represented by Doggett in District 37 or Democrat Greg Casar in District 35. The new map significantly shakes that up in an attempt from state Republicans to take small parts of left-leaning Austin and include them in the same congressional district as large swaths of rural, right-leaning Texas.
If it passes, Casar鈥檚 district would effectively be eliminated, and there would only be one solidly-blue congressional district remaining in the Austin area, setting up a potential battle for it between Doggett and Casar.
Both politicians released statements condemning the map, calling it 鈥渋llegal鈥� and a 鈥渃rooked scheme.鈥�
鈥淭rump is taking a hatchet to chop up Austin and our state with the sole objective of maintaining his one-man rule,鈥� Doggett said in a statement. 鈥淭his is designed to eliminate accessibility, accountability, and a strong voice for our shared values.鈥�
Casar said the map violates the Voting Rights Act by squeezing liberal-leaning Austin into a single district and silencing the Black and Latino voters in the surrounding communities.
鈥淚f Trump is allowed to rip the Voting Rights Act to shreds here in Central Texas, his ploy will spread like wildfire across the country,鈥� he said in a statement. 鈥淓veryone who cares about our democracy must mobilize against this illegal map.鈥�
But not everyone in the Austin area agrees the map is a step in the wrong direction. Jennifer Fleck, the AG真人百家乐 County GOP chair, said the new map will better reflect Texans and the views of residents in the surrounding areas of AG真人百家乐 County, who have been increasingly voting Republican in recent elections.
Fleck said consolidating the Austin-area Democratic districts represents the area more fairly.
"I believe it's what's good for the state and what's good for the country," Fleck said.
Whether the new map is actually illegal is unclear and will likely be hashed out in court. That鈥檚 nothing new for Texas 鈥� federal courts have found at least one of the state鈥檚 maps to be in violation of the Voting Rights Act every decade since it went into effect in 1965, according to .
But the implications for Austinites go beyond who will directly represent them.
Right now, Republicans control 25 of the state鈥檚 38 congressional district seats. If the new map passes, they could control up to 30, padding out the Republican party鈥檚 thin majority in the U.S. House before next year鈥檚 midterm elections.
Jim Henson, director of the Texas Policy Project at the University of Texas at Austin, said that will have the biggest impact on Central Texans.
鈥淚 would think about it less in terms of direct representation 鈥� and think more about what鈥檚 going on in the broader policy domain,鈥� Henson said. 鈥淛ust in the last few months we鈥檝e seen having unity party control in Washington D.C. has resulted in big policy changes that we are beginning to feel and will feel even more moving forward.鈥�
Hearings for the new map began Friday. The special session of the Texas Legislature continues until August 19.
