Tagged: Congressional Redistricting

In this week’s PolitiFact Texas check-in, KUT’s Emily Donahue speaks with the Austin American-Statesman’s Gardner Selby about a comment by State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, a Democrat from San Antonio and chairman of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus.

He was talking up the need for the United States Supreme Court to uphold Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, the civil rights legislation that originated in 1965. 



UPDATE 8:45 p.m.:  Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is asking a three-judge federal panel in San Antonio to stay the deadline for candidates to file for primary elections in the state House and Senate, as well as Texas's 36 congressional seats. The deadline is Thursday, but last week's ruling by the Supreme Court that putting redistricting maps for the state's legislative and congressional districts on hold until the justices can review them rendered that essentially moot. The high court won't hear oral arguments on that case until January 9.

Forget everything. The candidate announcements, the relocations, the decisions not to run again, the who vs. who vs. who and the campaign finance. Poof!

With a one-paragraph order on Friday night, the U.S. Supreme Court froze the Texas congressional and legislative elections and replaced pre-holiday candidate filings, politicking and fundraising with uncertainty and chaos.

Controversial maps that redraw political boundaries in Texas will be sent to trial, delivering a blow to the Republican state lawmakers who dominated the redistricting process. A Washington D.C.-based federal court agreed with the U.S. Department of Justice that the state legislature used an improper standard for determining whether the new districts discriminate against minorities.

For some clarification on the ruling, we spoke to Jim Henson, a University of Texas professor of government and director of the Texas Politics Project.

KUT News: In plain language, what does this ruling mean?

Give Your Input on AISD Performing Arts Center

The Austin Independent School District is planning to build a district-wide Performing Arts Center at the Mueller redevelopment site. AISD will be gathering public input on the project tonight. As KUT previously reported, the district already bought the land for the facility: