They are thinking about redistricting Ron's district

[sailingaway]

http://www.gonzalescannon.com/node/4685

No idea what the impact would be. Looks like he'd be getting back some district he had before they tried to district him out (rumor) before, but I don't know if it means they would 'take' anywhere else. Apparently this is aimed at a different congressman who forced more federal control on Texas schools, and only Texas schools, and if it doesn't hurt Ron, that's fine.

[acptulsa]

Damn! Just damn! Hardly any overlap at all! No wonder he's selling his Lake Jackson home. Jackson, Galveston, Texas City--all to be in a different district. The new one starts west of Houston and reaches to the outskirts of San Antonio.

Some pretty country in there, like the Stephen Austin State Park. Mostly rural, from what I've seen of it...

[sailingaway]

Damn! Just damn! Hardly any overlap at all! No wonder he's selling his Lake Jackson home. Jackson, Galveston, Texas City--all to be in a different district. The new one starts west of Houston and reaches to the outskirts of San Antonio.

Some pretty country in there, like the Stephen Austin State Park. Mostly rural, from what I've seen of it...

Wow. Will it hurt him?

And how can the GOP expect to keep a Republican representing Houston if it isn't Ron?

And they'll district my Dad out of Ron's district....:(

Does he need help pushing against this? I think we need to find out how he feels about this and whether he needs help fighting/influencing it. I bet Jackson would be pissed as hell to lose him....

[acptulsa]

Wow. Will it hurt him?

Your guess is as good as mine. And your dad's is probably better than both put together. I will say this though. I'll just bet there aren't a dozen wifi hotspots in the whole thing.

[payme_rick]

Well, it would take me out of his district by a county...so it'd be "bye-bye 14th" for me...

From first glance and my knowledge of these "new" areas I don't think it'd be a huge negative, but damn does this guy have a stranglehold on 14 as it sits right now or what? He'd for sure not win by as much...

I'm trying to remember the voting records for some of these "new" counties from the last election... It didn't list 'em all in the day-after-election newspaper, but they are historically conservative and it's not really close, so I wouldn't expect the heat coming in the general, just the primary...

Of course Ron must run again for it to matter...

[Reason]

Isn't this also happening to Dennis Kucinich? Saw something on the Daily Show about it last week...

[payme_rick]

Yikes! Upon further review of that map, the new 14 would get a tad too close up Austin's arm-pit... No likey that...

[acptulsa]

Yikes! Upon further review of that map, the new 14 would get a tad too close up Austin's arm-pit... No likey that...

Wouldn't be so bad if it weren't the East Side.

[payme_rick]

Wouldn't be so bad if it weren't the East Side.

Yah, but it's still far enough east from what I can tell, but the conservative-o-meter for sure doesn't ping as high in that west/northwest area of what would be the "new" 14th (I don't think)...

I'm on my phone right now and can't see that pic as well as I'd like, will get on the 'puter here in about 15 and get a better look at it...

[nate895]

Would Ron still live in the 14th CD? I'm not sure exactly where he lives. I know he lives in Brazoria County, but that county looks it might be split. Depending on where he lives in the district, it looks like he might have a similar district under a new number.

[acptulsa]

Would Ron still live in the 14th CD?

Considering the report that he put his Lake Jackson home up for sale (iirc), I guess he will. Don't know where he'll wind up. Yoakum?

[sailingaway]

Yikes! Upon further review of that map, the new 14 would get a tad too close up Austin's arm-pit... No likey that...

So, should people be fighting it? Saying they don't want to lose their congressman?

[sailingaway]

Considering the report that he put his Lake Jackson home up for sale (iirc), I guess he will. Don't know where he'll wind up. Yoakum?

He already is in his new house, he built it. I'm not sure where it is.

[payme_rick]

Alright... looking at it further, Bastrop County would be the addition to worry about the most... it goes Republican, but I'd say it's a "moderate" county...

I can't find the 2010 election results from Lee County, but that'd be another one that may be moderate... the rest looks okay from what I see...

Like I said, it's not the general election that would worry me, but the republican primary... if RP could take that "new" district, I have hope the counties omitted from the "old" 14th could get a good congressman in there...

but what do I know, we Texans is funny...

[nate895]

Considering the report that he put his Lake Jackson home up for sale (iirc), I guess he will. Don't know where he'll wind up. Yoakum?

The thing is, most of the plans (besides the one mentioned) would make his district significantly smaller, but still similar. Whatever happens, his district has to be significantly changed because of the crazy growth that Texas has experienced in relation to the other states.

This is but one of several plans, go here (http://www.tlc.state.tx.us/redist/maps_online.html) if you want to see the other ones. A couple of them keep Brazoria in one district, but a couple split it between two. This plan seems to be the only one that has the county in three districts

I think a few of these redistricting plans could really give us a shot to make easy gains in TX.

[acptulsa]

Given that he was Congressman for some of that area a couple of years ago before the last round of gerrymandering, it may not be anything to worry about. I don't think the Democrats in that little piece of Greater Austin will overbalance the rest of it.

[payme_rick]

Would Ron still live in the 14th CD? I'm not sure exactly where he lives. I know he lives in Brazoria County, but that county looks it might be split. Depending on where he lives in the district, it looks like he might have a similar district under a new number.

From what I can see, Lake Jackson would NOT be in the new 14...

[payme_rick]

So, should people be fighting it? Saying they don't want to lose their congressman?

I dunno, I think he'd still be safe, but not AS safe... know what I mean?

[nate895]

From what I can see, Lake Jackson would NOT be in the new 14...

Don't go too crazy over numbers. Just because the number changes does not mean the district itself changes very much. Because TX got 4 new districts, there will be a lot of changes. Lots of them will be number changes. Ron Paul might no longer be in the 14th, but he might be in a similar district nonetheless.

[payme_rick]

Don't go too crazy over numbers. Just because the number changes does not mean the district itself changes very much. Because TX got 4 new districts, there will be a lot of changes. Lots of them will be number changes. Ron Paul might no longer be in the 14th, but he might be in a similar district nonetheless.

I'm honestly not that worried... just find it interesting as to where he will end up... If he still lives in that area of Lake Jackson/Clute/Freeport, he won't even live in district 14 from what I can tell... but the other two district lines in Brazoria County are pretty close to where I'd guess RP lives... dunno dunno dunno...

[sailingaway]

The thing is, most of the plans (besides the one mentioned) would make his district significantly smaller, but still similar. Whatever happens, his district has to be significantly changed because of the crazy growth that Texas has experienced in relation to the other states.

This is but one of several plans, go here (http://www.tlc.state.tx.us/redist/maps_online.html) if you want to see the other ones. A couple of them keep Brazoria in one district, but a couple split it between two. This plan seems to be the only one that has the county in three districts

I think a few of these redistricting plans could really give us a shot to make easy gains in TX.

We should get behind the best one, with a fallback.

[nate895]

I'm honestly not that worried... just find it interesting as to where he will end up... If he still lives in that area of Lake Jackson/Clute/Freeport, he won't even live in district 14 from what I can tell... but the other two district lines in Brazoria County are pretty close to where I'd guess RP lives... dunno dunno dunno...

I think some of these plans, particularly the Owens plan draft two give us easy chances for gains. Ron Paul (assuming he moves within Brazoria County) will live in a similar district, but the eastern part of his current district (Galveston and Chambers) would become a part of an essentially new district (with the old number 14, however). Ron Paul could have a significant influence in the election of a Congressman there if no GOP incumbent lives in it. It could be an easy pickup for us.

[acptulsa]

We should get behind the best one, with a fallback.

Considering they just tried to primary him and failed miserably, I'd say that's the one that most closely resembles the current #14.

[nate895]

Considering they just tried to primary him and failed miserably, I'd say that's the one that most closely resembles the current #14.

With the exception of the Pate plan (the one mentioned in the article), none of the plans appear to change the dynamic of a potential primary challenge or GE considering how dominant Paul is in the district.

[invisible]

If this happened, would this place Ron and Medina in different districts? And is there already a cherry-picked (no pun intended) establishment candidate waiting in the wings for the new district that would be created? Surprised that no one has asked these questions yet.

[sailingaway]

If this happened, would this place Ron and Medina in different districts? And is there already a cherry-picked (no pun intended) establishment candidate waiting in the wings for the new district that would be created? Surprised that no one has asked these questions yet.

I thought about it, but I don't know the various maps. Texas will have to figure it out. If we can have both Ron and Medina, that would be terrific, but I think we have to get in there and fight for it. Their number one point might be to get rid of one Congressman, but if we can work it to get another of our own, that would be great.

[eduardo89]

Where does Medina live?

[MozoVote]

By the way, people... you don't have to live in a Federal district to run in it, or represent it. Although of course it's a convenience (and a vote getter) if you do.

[eduardo89]

By the way, people... you don't have to live in a Federal district to run in it, or represent it. Although of course it's a convenience (and a vote getter) if you do.

That's actually true. I remember reading of a representative in I think it's Virginia who doesn't live in his district, but one county over or something like that.