Texas Senate Hearing: Phil King Grilled on Redistricting Map Methodology

Redistricting Process and Timeline

• 🗓️ Senator King stated he began the redistricting process a week or so before the first special session, after being asked by the lieutenant governor to chair the redistricting committee.
• ❓ Senator Menéndez questioned the timing, noting no redistricting discussions occurred during the regular session.

Methodology and Data Usage

• 🗺️ Senator King asserted his belief that the map is drawn race-blind and that he has not looked at any race data.
• 🗣️ However, Senator Menéndez pointed out that Chairman Hunter has consistently listed specific districts and their race population during House proceedings.
• ⚖️ King explained that drawing maps on a partisan basis is well-established and legally sound, and that his focus was on improving Republican candidate performance.

Voting Rights Act and Legal Compliance

• ⚠️ King acknowledged the Voting Rights Act (VRA) as a consideration but stated his concern is only with what is before the Senate and his authorship.
• ❓ When questioned about Chairman Hunter focusing on race data, King stated he was unaware and that voting history is a more accurate and legally established basis for drawing maps.
• 🧑‍⚖️ King confirmed he did not draw the maps himself and, when presented with maps, turned them over to legal counsel for a "legal scrubbing" to ensure compliance with the VRA and other laws.
• 📄 He was assured the map complies with the VRA but was only presented with the legal counsel's conclusion, not the underlying data.

Analysis of Voter Preferences

• 📊 King stated he asked legal counsel to run jingles and other analyses to determine VRA compliance.
• ❓ He was not aware of specific elections analyzed or the type of election analysis conducted by the law firm he hired.
• 🚫 King intentionally avoided looking at any racial data, focusing instead on political performance.

District Compactness and Urban vs. Rural Areas

• 📐 King stated his instructions were to only bring forward maps that were legal in all respects.
• ❓ Senator Menéndez questioned the compactness of urban districts, describing them as "carved up" and comparing them to a "bowl of something you'd get at Chipotle."
• 🏙️ King attributed the complexity in urban areas to population density and efforts to hold communities of interest together, while acknowledging that reaching into urban areas to grab population is unavoidable when balancing districts.
• 🏘️ He also noted that the overwhelming majority of racial minorities live in these same urban counties that are being cut up.
• 🤷 King reiterated he has not looked at any racial data, but acknowledged that South Texas has rural areas with heavy Hispanic populations.