SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The Texas attorney general agreed Monday to temporary voting maps that would place two new congressional seats in Hispanic-dominated districts as part of a deal to preserve the already delayed primary elections in April. But several minority groups bristled at the compromise and vowed fight it.
Still, the proposal marks a rare moment of agreement in a bitter legal clash that has dragged on since last summer, even reaching the U.S. Supreme Court. Minority groups filed a lawsuit alleging the GOP-controlled Legislature drafted redistricting maps that were discriminatory and ignored a burgeoning Hispanic population.
A San Antonio federal court had given both sides until Monday to reach a compromise, or see the Texas primaries pushed back for a second time — a move that Republicans feared could leave Texas voters out of deciding which GOP presidential candidate challenges President Barack Obama in November. Primary elections are now set for April 3.
Attorney General Greg Abbott said seven minority groups agreed to the new plan, which would give Hispanics control of two of the four new congressional seats Texas earned thanks to its population spike in the 2010 census. Abbot said the plan also minimizes changes to the Legislature's original redistricting maps.
"Today's maps should allow the court to finalize the interim redistricting maps in time to have elections in April," Abbott said in a statement.
But some of the groups suing the state said the deal was no compromise. The Mexican American Legislative Caucus argued that the new plan, which redraws boundaries for both congressional and state legislative districts, actually dilutes minority influence in some areas. Its chairman, Democratic state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, said the two Hispanic congressional seats would come on the condition of losing ground in other districts currently dominated by Hispanic voters.
"If you tell me we're going to get these seats at the expense of another district, that's not a win," he said.
Luis Vera, a lawyer for the League of United Latin American Citizens, predicted the court wouldn't accept the deal, saying: "It means absolutely nothing." He noted the separate case challenging the maps' legality was pending in Washington. Since Texas is one of nine states with a history of racial discrimination, the federal court in Washington or the U.S. Department of Justice must pre-approve any changes to state election laws. A ruling in that case isn't expected for at least another month.
It wasn't immediately clear when the three-judge panel in San Antonio would accept or reject Abbot's proposal.
Rolando Rios, an attorney for Democratic U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, who also was part of the lawsuit, told The Associated Press that he was optimistic the other plaintiffs could support the compromise.
"This would be historic if we could get it," Rios said, referring to the two new Hispanic-controlled congressional districts.
The fight over new voting maps in Texas is being driven by new census numbers that show a burgeoning Hispanic population in Texas. The stakes are unusually high because the nation's second-largest state is adding four congressional seats — and the way they are divvyed up could be pivotal in determining which party controls the U.S. House.
The Texas Legislature got the first crack at drawing new maps for Congress and the Statehouse, but their plan was quickly challenged by Cuellar and minority groups.
If the court rejects the compromise, the judges could split the primaries into two elections — one for the presidential race, and a later one for state and congressional elections that are at the mercy of where map lines are settled.
A split primary would let parties hold their conventions on schedule — but could cost taxpayers $15 million.
Republican legislative leaders argued that they drew the original maps merely to benefit their party's candidates, but minority groups claim they discriminate by diluting minority voting power. All states must redraw political districts following the census every 10 years to adjust for population changes.
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