Latinos Push For Political Power As Lawmakers In Texas Redraw Voting Maps Across The State

CBS Dallas/Fort Worth

September 23, 2021

As a Dallas County commissioner, Elba Garcia represents some 670,000 people — nearly the population of a single congressional district. The majority of her constituents are Latino and live in the fast-growing suburbs west of Dallas, where they share worries about managing growth, schools and access to health care.

Garcia is the area’s voice on the commission, but her constituents don’t have such neat representation in Congress. The area is divvied up among three House members, according to boundaries drawn by Republican legislators 10 years ago. None is Latino.

Garcia says the impact of the divisions is clear: “Everyone gets cut up and scattered around,” she said. “They dilute the Latino vote.”

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