Map of Texas House District 57
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After the 2020 census, the state of Texas was forced to redraw the boundaries for federal Congressional districts as well as state House and Senate districts. This ensures that each district has roughly the same count of residents.
The body responsible for redrawing the legislative maps is the Legislative Redistricting Board consisting of the Lieutenant Governor (Dan Patrick - R), Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives (Dade Phelan - R), Attorney General (Ken Paxton - R), Comptroller (Glenn Hegar - R), and the Commissioner of the General Land Office (Dawn Buckingham - R). That about as partisan a group as any state can get.
The redrawn District 57 includes the towns of Corinth, Dish, Hickory Creek, Lake Dallas, Lakewood Village, Little Elm, Oak Point, Ponder, and Shady Shores. It also includes parts of Argyle, Copper Canyon, Crossroads, Hackberry, and Highland Village.
Clearly, the new district (as well as multiple surrounding districts in the DFW, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio areas) has been heavily gerrymandered ("to manipulate the boundaries of an electoral constituency so as to favor one party or class") in an attempt to promote a specific outcome. (A more detailed map can be found on the Texas Capitol District Viewer site. It starts out showing the entire state. Just zoom in to the area you want to see.)
Our district boundaries are totally nuts. The district spans almost all of central Denton County from almost the eastern edge of Denton County to the extreme western edge of the county, but it wraps around the city of Denton completely, avoiding any possibility that residents of the city will ever be able to affect the representation within the district. Obviously, when you look at it, a district like this has nothing to do with actually representing the people of central Denton County but has everything to do with maximizing Republican partisan power. As drawn, this district basically bends over backward to retain Republican representation in the state legislature. The Denton County Democratic Party knew this in 2022 which is probably why they didn't field a candidate that year, essentially guaranteeing that whoever won the Republican primary would be (and did become) our representative in the state legislature.
My results from the 2022 contest garnered a little over 34% of the vote, not enough to win (obviously) but enough to make a few people sit up and take notice. Admittedly, given the two choices (me, and my Republican opponent), people either voted FOR me, or AGAINST him. To be fair, the Denton Country Democratic Party has fielded a candidate this year. At the time of this writing, I know very little about him but as far as I can tell, he is NOT the wide receiver for the Chicago Bears.
But there is still one thing that neither of Denton County's Old Parties has counted on, and that's you and that you can vote for any candidate on the ballot (regardless of what they may try to tell you).
Obviously, I am biased, but I can tell you that I won't vote on issues based solely on party loyalty; I will vote on them based on my loyalty to you, the people of central Denton County. But I encourage you to vote for the candidate that you think will best represent you and your issues in the Texas legislature. If that's one of them, great; if it's me, better. I'm not going to claim that I'm a better candidate, merely a "different" one. All I ask is that you consider my candidacy. If you don't like what I have to offer, well, there's still the other guys
- Partisan Gerrymandering [Article Link]
