The Democratic leaders of the County of Tarrant at the national and local level met on Tuesday to denounce the attempt to rediscover the county, which would make the Department Commissioner of the county, Alisa Simmons, more favorable to the Republicans before she was in re -election next year, Previous electoral data shared by the county show.
The member of the US Congress Marc Veasey appeared alongside Simmons, his colleague Democratic Commissioner of County Roderick Miles Jr., and members of the Municipal Council of Fort Worth during a press conference outside the Historical Palace of the County of Tarrant in downtown Fort Worth. Veasey said that the redistribution effort, led by the county republican judge Tim O’Hare, targets the growing black and Hispanic communities of the county.
“We are not going to be silenced, we are not going to be erased and we are not going to let them bring us back to Jim Crow’s politics,” said Veasey.
Kera News contacted O’Hare to comment and update this story with any answer.
This unusual redistribution process of mid-December started in AprilWhen the republican majority of the Tarrant County Court of County Court voted to hire a conservative law firm to redraw the lines of court commissioners. All the commissioners represent one of the four geographic districts, with the exception of O’Hare, which represents the whole county.
Miles and Simmons – The two Democrats of the Court – denounced the process as racial gerrymandering. The proposed cards would eliminate the colored voters of the district 2 of Simmons in the south-east of the county of Tarrant and would pack them in a remodeling version of Miles’ Precinct 1, they say.
The Republicans in favor of the redistribution have denied that it is a race – it is a policy.
Commissioners Matt Krause And Manny Ramirez both said they wanted redistribution to give their party the advantage. The growth of the existing republican majority of the commissioners’ court, from three members to four, will help the county of Tarrant avoid the problems observed in the counties led by the Democrats, as high taxes, wrote Ramirez in an opinion piece by Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Opponents of redistribution use breed as a tool, Krause told a public hearing in Hurst last week.
“The Supreme Court will not intervene if it is a gerrymander supporter,” he said. “This is why you must allege this racial component, because it is the only way to go to court to find repairs, that there is a base.”
Krause said that no map of the 2021 redistribution process on the state level had been modified due to racial problems, but the disputed districts are still making their way to the courts.
This month, a panel of three members of judges of the American district in El Paso will hear cases alleging that some of the new legislative cards of the congress and the state dilute the power of black and Latin voting, Texas Tribune reported. Which includes certain districts In the counties of Tarrant and Dallas.
Politicians generally become the cards again every 10 years, after the American census, to ensure that the districts are relatively balanced by the population. But Experts say The process is always hyper-political and both parties use it to their advantage. Harris county commissioners adopted a card adapted to democrats During their redistribution process in 2021.
A preceding set of commissioners of the County of Tarrant decided to leave the Card of the constituency in the same way after the 2020 census, because the data showed that the constituencies were balanced by the population.
The new cards offered are based on the same data, said Jeanette Martinez, member of the Municipal Council of Fort Worth, who also works for Commissioner Roderick Miles Jr.
“Think about it this way,” she said. “If your health was at stake, do you count on five-year-old data?” You wouldn’t do it. “
The council voted according to the parties last week To pass a resolution opposed to redistribution. The mayor of Fort Worth, Mattie Parker, voted against this resolution but added his name to a letter Signed by nine other mayors of the County of Tarrant urging the county to rethink the redistribution.
The proposed cards are based on obsolete census data, do not meet the legal standards of the State and can be racially discriminatory, supports the letter.
A vote on the proposed cards is expected at the meeting of the court of the County Country of Tarrant on June 3. If one of them is adopted, the county can expect legal action, said Veasey.
Do you have a tip? Send an email to Miranda Suarez to msuaarez@kera.org.
Kera News is made possible thanks to the generosity of our members. If you find this precious relationship, consider Make a tax deductible gift Today. THANKS.