How do Texans feel about the gerrymandered Texas congressional map?

With early voting underway for the November midterm elections, candidates are making their final push to reach voters. For months, CBS News Texas has been tracking polls and hearing directly from politicians about their platforms. 

But polls and campaign speeches tell only part of the story. They don't fully capture who Texans are or why certain issues matter to them.

To find out, Ken Molestina and a CBS News Texas crew hit the road to hear directly from voters across the metroplex and get a sense of the Texas state of mind.

A little over a year ago, Texas lawmakers redrew the state's congressional map to create more Republican-leaning districts. 

That new map set off a political fight, one that prompted Democratic lawmakers to flee the state. Ultimately it was approved, and it is being used for the upcoming midterms.

Ahead of Election Day, a CBS Texas crew set out to talk to affected constituents of one recently gerrymandered district — District 32 — to learn more about what voters there care about.

The new District 32 

District 32 in North Texas is one of the five districts Republicans targeted to flip this election. It was once Democratic, rooted in Dallas and the city's northern suburbs. It now includes a small portion of Dallas County and stretches far out into East Texas — all the way to rural Upshur County. It is expected to swing Republican on Election Day.

SMU political science professor Matthew Wilson said traveling from one side of the district to the other would give one the sense of just how vast this new district is: 

"As you drive the district, you will get a sense of a demographic and cultural, and to some degree, political shift."

CBS Texas sat down with two politically active voters who were vocally opposed to the recent redistricting. 

"People's voices and their choices have been taken away from them," said Rev. Bryant Phelps, senior pastor at Hamilton Park United Methodist Church. His constituents live in the district. "These are Black folks. These are Asian Americans, a diverse block of people who have now been sanitized. Their voices have now been erased."

"If you live in Gilmer, if you keep the district office in Richardson, where it currently is, that person is going to have to travel two hours out to a district office," said TJ Callaway, a Garland resident and District 32 voter. 

Callaway said he imagines some of the concerns of Dallas-area voters probably overlap with new District 32 constituents in far east Texas:

"But I think that the solutions to those problems are often different in urban and suburban areas than they are far out in more rural areas," he said

From Garland to Gilmer

Our crew traveled from Garland to Rockwall to Gilmer, randomly surveying people along the way, and found many were unaware that the district had recently changed shape. When asked about what they cared about, many answers were the same: 

"The price of everything is going up," said Charles Robb, a Garland voter.

"We worry about security a little bit. And then of course, the cost of living, the rent is high," said Suad Bahsoon, another Garland voter. 

Missy Wadham, a voter in Rockwall, also named security as a concern.

"Our police department is something that we truly love and respect, and they take care of us and protect us," she said.

Another Rockwall voter said he believes the city has more in common with East Texas constituents than with the Dallas area.

In Gilmer, a town of about 5,000, voters named affordability, conservative values and water rights as top concerns. 

"We want to make sure our water stays here," said Janice East. "One thing we hear a lot about is data centers taking our water. 

Another voter, Justin Farmer, noted the influx of people moving to the area from bigger cities. He said Gilmer welcomes the growth, "as long as they don't start running for politics."