Redistricting underway in Austin

Rich Flowers, Athens Daily Review, Texas
·2 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Sep. 27—Henderson County's location makes it a possible end piece in redistricting proposals being debated in Austin.

The first preliminary map of Texas Senate District 3 again has Henderson County in the far northwest part of the district. The map shows the district reaching to the Louisiana border on the east and stretching as far as part of Jefferson County to the south.

The current map of District 3, served by Sen. Robert Nichols of Jacksonville, includes a portion of Montgomery County, while the proposed map does not. Nichols was re-elected to the seat in the 2018 General Election, with 78% of the vote. Henderson County accounted for 26,451 of the 274,757 votes in the election. Montgomery County voters in the race totaled 24,314.

An election where Henderson County could see a bigger change is for State Board of Education. The preliminary map released this week shows the county moving from District 9, which stretches eastward from Henderson County, to District 10, which runs to the west.

Kevin Ellis was elected to a second term from Place 9 in the 2020 General Election. If the first draft of the new Board of Education map is approved, Henderson County would be the far northwest county in the a newly configured District 10. Anderson and Freestone Counties would also be in the district that stretches to the edges of the Hill Country. Debate on the Senate and Board of Education maps began on Thursday.

Still to come is a draft of a Texas House map. Henderson County is currently divided between House Districts 4 and 10. When created, following the 2010 Census, District 4 included Kaufman County's 145,310 residents and 68,682 from Henderson County. District 10 is made up of all of Ellis County, with a population of 192,455 and 13,468 Henderson County residents.

District 10 voters return to the polls on Tuesday to decide a runoff election between Brian Harrison and John Wray. Voters from the Henderson County voting precincts in Malakoff, Trinidad, Tool and Seven Points are participating.