US Rep. Green Says Texas GOP Map 'Injustice' Can Be Fixed: Report

SUGAR LAND, TX — After the Texas GOP-drawn redistricting map took another step forward Friday when the Texas House of Representatives voted to advance it, U.S. Rep. Al Green is calling for a renegotiation of the process, according to a report from the Houston Chronicle.

Texas gained two new congressional seats after the 2020 U.S. Census, with Latino residents making up more than half of the state's growth over the last decade. The proposed map fortifies Republican seats in suburban areas threatened by demographic shifts. No new districts would have a Latino majority.

It also makes major changes to Texas' 9th and 18th Congressional Districts and puts Green, who represents the 9th District in southwest Houston, and U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in the same district. The two are the only African-American representatives from Texas.

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"It’s a lot easier to draw maps when you have to add a seat than take away the seat," Green told the Chronicle. "There were more than ample means by which we could draft a map that would allow congressional seats such as the 9th to remain pretty much as they were. ... This injustice can be easily fixed.”

Green said he hoped to reach an amicable solution but that he and Lee would take the issue to court if necessary.

The Texas redistricting map was drawn without federal oversight for the first time in over 50 years after a 2013 Supreme Court ruling removed mandatory federal approval of new maps for Texas and all or parts of 15 other states with a history of discrimination in voting.

Redistricting is done every 10 years following the U.S. Census to account for population changes.