Quote:
After Republicans won control of the Texas state legislature in 2002, for the first time in 130 years, they set their sights on establishing a majority of House of Representatives seats held by their party. After the 2002 election, Democrats had a 17-15 edge in House seats representing Texas, although the state's voters voted for Republicans in congressional races by an 18-14 margin.[2]. After a protracted partisan struggle, the legislature enacted a new congressional districting map, Plan 1374C, introduced in the Texas House by Representative Phil King of Weatherford. In the 2004 congressional elections, Republicans won 21 seats to the Democrats' 11. [3] In 2006 Republicans won 19 seats, and Democrats won 13. [4]
Redistricting in Texas was traditionally done once every ten years, soon after the National Census. A redistricting occurred in 1991, when the Democrats held both the governor's seat (with Ann Richards) and a legislative majority. By 2000, Republican George W. Bush was governor, with Republican Rick Perry as his lieutenant governor.
After the 2000 elections, however, Democrats maintained their majority in the Texas legislature. In 2001, the Democrats and Republicans were unable to agree on a new district map to correspond with the 2000 census. Per state law, under these circumstances, the matter could be submitted to a panel of judges. The Republican minority recommended this solution. Accordingly, the matter was forwarded for this type of review, and the judges drew a new map, which maintained a 17 to 15 Democratic majority. [1][citation needed] Under the Texas Constitution, the Legislative Redistricting Board (LRB) convenes only when the state legislature is unable to approve a redistricting plan in the first legislative session following the National Census. In June, 2001, the redistricting task passed to the LRB after the state legislature failed to pass a redistricting plan.[2]
In September, 2001, Texas Representative Tom DeLay organized Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC), a political action committee designed to gather campaign funds for Republican candidates throughout Texas. TRMPAC was modeled closely after DeLay's Americans for a Republican Majority (ARMPAC), a federal-level organization created to raise funds for Republicans during the 2000 national elections.[3] Simultaneously, as has been well documented in the media, DeLay played a key role in the ongoing Texas redistricting effort.
In 2002, a Republican majority was elected to the state legislature. Under the encouragement of Tom DeLay, Governor Rick Perry and the Republican majority tried to make redistricting a major issue during the 2003 legislative session. By the end of the term, however, the issue had not been settled. As a result, Perry called for special summer sessions.
In summer 2003, the state legislature attempted once more to reapportion the state's congressional districts. Democratic party members from the two state houses, lacking the votes to defeat the redistricting plan, fled the state for nearby Oklahoma and New Mexico. In doing so, the 53 members made it impossible for a quorum to exist, thus blocking the redistricting efforts. The absent Democratic representatives became collectively known as the "Killer D's". Despite this, redistricting plans went through and the Republican majority in the Texas congressional delegation grew after the 2004 elections as a result.
So basically the Dem's in this Texas case threw a temper Tantrum and ran to Oklahoma because they knew they weren't going to win. What are these politicians? 5 years old?