Dems take Rick Perry, Texas GOP to court over redistricting

Civil rights groups and Democratic lawmakers had their day in court today to argue that Texas Gov. Rick Perry, along with his Republican colleagues in the Texas legislature, redrew Texas's congressional maps in a way that discriminates against Latinos.

The federal case challenging the new political boundaries -- drawn after Texas gained four congressional seats as a result of the 2010 Census -- began today in a San Antonio courtroom.

The fight over representation in Texas gets underway as Perry's presidential campaign gains solid momentum and adds a new dimension to the question of whether Republicans can appeal to the growing ethnic group. Additionally, the plaintiffs in the case are using an argument -- that Latinos in the state overall, rather than in a particular district, have been marginalized -- that could usher in new guidelines in redistricting law.

The population surge in Texas over the last decade was largely attributable to the growing Latino population -- a reliably Democratic voting bloc. As Latinos see their influence rise in Texas, the Democratic party would, presumably, as well. The state is now nearly 38 percent Latino, with non-Hispanic whites making up 45 percent of the state.

The redistricting process typically depends quite a bit on politics at the local level, but Texas Democratic Party Deputy Executive Director Anthony Gutierrez said in a statement that the trial "is about a lot more than Republicans and Democrats fighting over district lines."

"Republicans are trying to illegally use redistricting to predetermine who makes policy for the next decade," Gutierrez said.

But as Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott pointed out, Bloomberg reports, opponents of the map must prove "the state acted with specific intent to discriminate on the basis of race and not, for example, on the basis of political affiliation."

"The evidence shows conclusively that the dispersal of population across the state makes it impossible to draw additional congressional districts consisting of a majority of Latino or African-American voters," Abbott added in court papers.

"On the face of it.... Republicans didn't disenfranchise any minority members -- in fact, they added a seat," Mark Gersh, president of political consulting firm NCEC Services Inc. and CBS News consultant, told Hotsheet.

But in what Gersh called a "novel application" of the Voting Rights Act, the plaintiffs are arguing that Latinos across the state are underrepresented.

The Texas legislature drew a map that created one new Hispanic district, Gersh explained, and three new Republican seats. They also modified an existing Democratic district so that it's now Republican-leaning, spurring its current representative, Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett, to run in a Democratic primary in the newly drawn majority-Latino district.

"The legal concept [the trial] is going to hang on is something that's never been attempted before," Gersh said.

Catherine Frazier, a Perry spokeswoman, told Bloomberg the governor views the new map as fair. "The legislature determined and approved the map, and the governor signed it and believes it went through a fair process," spokesman Catherine Frazier said.

Texas Republican Party Chairman Steve Munisteri wrote in a fundraising solicitation last month that "Democrats know that they have a better chance of winning in the court house with their liberal trial lawyer friends than at the ballot box with common sense voters who are sick of tax and spend policies."

A three-judge panel will oversee the trial, and they expect it to last just nine days. If they reject the map, it will be up to the judges to redraw it, state Assistant Attorney General David Mattax told the judges at a pretrial hearing last week, Bloomberg reported. Lawmakers wouldn't have enough time to reconvene and fix the map themselves before the next election season is in full swing.