The Brief
Texas lawmakers unveiled a newly drawn congressional map earlier this week.
Among the districts with the most changes, Rep. Julie Johnson's district goes from urban and suburban to a more rural area comprising of eastern Texas.
Johnson sat down with FOX 4's Steven Dial to discuss the proposed changes.
DALLAS - Texas lawmakers unveiled a proposed redistricting map this week. The map shifts several districts that are currently held by Democrats.
One such district is represented by Rep. Julie Johnson. Under the proposed map, Johnson's district would switch from urban and suburban to a more red eastern Texas.
FOX 4's Steven Dial sat down with the congresswoman to talk about those changes.
Is the new map voter segregation?
Rep. Julie Johnson, (D - TX 32): I think this first draft of the maps is one of the most racist attempts at voting segregation I've ever seen. And that's going be brought out. And if you look at all of the redistricting hearings that have happened throughout the state, you now, I was at the one Monday night here in North Texas, you know, over a thousand people came out to protest this map. And that's been the case throughout all the other redistricting hearings as well. And what I know is that these Texas Republicans are ignoring the overwhelming loud voice of Texans opposing these maps.
FOX 4's Steven Dial: Why do you think the map is racist?
Johnson: Well, because it really divides communities of color and separates them. What the Voting Rights Act was intended to do was to give communities of color, in particular, who have historically been disenfranchised in the vote, the opportunity to come together as a community, as a block and elect a candidate of their choice. And what they're doing is they're piecing them apart and stringing them out over hundreds of miles with different right urban, right rural counties. And they're just really disenfranchising that. If you look at my current 32, it's very compact. It's very urban. They don't have a single rural area in that. I don't think there's a single plot of farm in 32 currently. And they are taking a section of it and stringing it out. And that's what they've done through many of these districts throughout the state in this redistricting process.
Will this map help Republicans gain five seats?
Dial: President Trump said he thinks he can pick up five seats in Texas alone. With that proposed house map, does it look like he could pick up five seats?
Johnson: I think it makes some of them very competitive. You know, I think the Houston seat that they're trying to draw out is a very competitive race. You know, I haven't had a chance to really dig deep into all the data. The maps have just come out. We're gonna do a hard look to see. But what I do know is that these maps are based on 2020 census data and that data has changed dramatically. You know we've had two and a half million people move to Texas. A lot of that here in North Texas since these census maps were drawn. And that these new maps do not factor into that population shift. And so I think they don't accurately represent or reflect the partisan voting nature of these districts. And it's gonna be a very interesting couple of months to figure it out.
Will Democrat-led states retaliate with their own redistricting?
Dial: Do you still have that same feeling that Democrat states like California should do their own form of gerrymandering?
Johnson: Absolutely. We all need to play by the same rules. That's the thing. I support independent redistricting throughout the entire country. But what we can't have is half the country doing independent redistricting and half the country doing partisan gerrymandering. We all need to play by the same rules. And so, if Texas chooses to proceed and finalize these maps and approve something like this, and I think California, New York, Illinois, they all need to do the same, because there's a lot at stake nationally. Our national, the soul of our country is at stake and the future of our democracy and the vast amount of the American people do not agree at all with what Trump and these national Republicans are doing, and they deserve to have an opportunity to stop it.
Dial: I know hundreds of people are going to testify at how many ever hearings that happen in the coming days, weeks, whatever. Is that just going to the motions? Is the deed already done in Democrat's eyes?
Johnson:There's a lot of Republicans, and a lot of people who are showing up to these hearings outraged, viscerally outraged expressing their displeasure with this process. Republicans can choose to ignore those voters, but they may pay the price for that come November.
You can watch Texas: The Issue Is on FOX on Sunday nights and anytime on FOX LOCAL.
The Source
Information in this article comes from FOX 4's Steven Dial's interview with Rep. Julie Johnson.
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