So close to Texas, New Mexico has been a redistricting refuge before—but not like this 

Commentary

Dede Feldman is a former NM State Senator representing Albuquerque’s North Valley. She served on the 2001 legislative redistricting committee.

A few of us had Blackberries, but in those days, it was mostly flip phones, and that’s how we found out.  The Texans were coming. It was 2003 and the message was from the Senate Democratic caucus. Our counterparts, Democratic senators from Texas, were fleeing the state to deprive their senate of the quorum they needed to jam a redistricting plan formulated by then US House Majority Leader Tom Delay though the Texas legislature. 

I was not involved in the logistics and arrangements that were made for the Texans to stay in New Mexico for what would become 45 days, but a similar process is now going on in Illinois where Gov. JB Pritzger on Sunday welcomed a group of Texas house members 22 years later.

In 2003, a news conference at the Marriott, where about 12 senators were staying, was held. The Texas senators filled us in on what had caused their visit. A year earlier, with the help of PACs operated by Tom Delay, the Republicans had gained a majority in the Texas House, and DeLay’s plan was to use new, Republican control of both chambers to redistrict the US House, even though it had just been done in 2001 at the regular ten-year interval.  

By 2003 DeLay was the US House Majority Leader but that year he spent much of his time in Texas directing the effort. About 52 Texas House members (they dubbed themselves the “Killer Ds”) had tried to deprive their body of a quorum earlier in the summer by fleeing across the border to the Holiday Inn in Ardmore, Oklahoma. But one member’s plane had been tracked down and the group had returned to Texas. Now 12 Senators were trying to delay the bill’s passage, since a quorum required 2/3. 

It was a long shot, but we supported their efforts, outraged by the idea of a mid-decade redistricting process. 

Ultimately, they were not successful. One of the senators, Sen. John Whitmire, defected over the Labor Day weekend and returned to Texas. Several special sessions followed.  In the third one, the redistricting map passed and was signed by Gov. Rick Perry. It resulted in 21 Republican districts and 11 Democratic ones, compared to the previous 17 Democratic districts to 15 Republican ones. The Republicans have controlled the delegation ever since.

Now more than 50 Texas House members have fled to Illinois to stall the Trump-instigated plan to pick up five Republican House seats and maintain control in Congress. Texas Gov. Abbott is threatening not just to arrest them—threats we heard here in 2003—but to have them thrown out of office. The Texas Attorney General is on board.

This time, the partisan conflict goes beyond stalling tactics, threats, and hospitality from sympathetic counterparts.  The Texas legislators are not just asking for refuge. They are asking that Illinois, New York, New Mexico, California and other Democratically controlled states engage in similar gerrymandering efforts—to keep up with the aggressive tactics now used by Republicans.

And it looks like the Democrats might respond. This could generate a continuous round of redistricting in every state where the legislature changes hands from Democrat to Republican or vice versa. In an evenly divided country, it’s a recipe for chaos.  

I may cheer for the Democrats, but for years I’ve been an advocate of independent redistricting commissions – to take this important process out of the hands of the politicians altogether.  Because where do the people get a say in all this? When politicians draw the lines, the vote of ordinary citizens is almost an afterthought, confirming what districts drawn to favor one party or another have pre-ordained. 

The bodacious Republican power grab just makes it more obvious, but it could work the other way, too.

Republicans—and Democrats—should treat lightly here. Pandora’s box is just beginning to open.