President Donald Trump’s drive to retain control of the US Congress by rewriting the Texas electoral map is playing out in part in a largely Latino, low-income patch of Houston that smells of chemical plants and oil refineries.
It’s called Manchester Park and, for decades, it has been part of District 29, which a Democratic lawmaker firmly held.
Now, in the recent redo of the map, with which Trump’s Republicans hope to eke out five new seats to protect their slim majority in Congress, that hold is in jeopardy.
People in Manchester Park live near an oil refinery and endure the pollution it spews, health risks and low-wage jobs as they go about their lives.
Their Democratic representative in Congress, Sylvia Garcia, who has roots in Mexico, is popular: people see her as a champion for their cause.
“She has done a lot for the community. And if they take us out of this district…” said local resident Ludivina Moreno, her voice trailing off.
“We don’t know who we are going to get and if they are going to advocate for the community,” said Moreno, 46, standing in the doorway of her home.
The Texas state legislature recently passed the redrawing of the electoral map — a tactic known as gerrymandering — even though Democrats tried to prevent a vote by leaving the state en masse.
Some districts that were mainly Latino or Black — and which Trump lost in the 2024 election — were broken up to dilute support for Democrats.
These patches of Democratic support have been added to Republican-majority districts to help Trump’s party in next year’s mid-term elections.
Specifically, the overhaul means District 29 will go from being 70-percent Latino among people of voting age to just over 40 percent, according to Cristina Morales, a Democrat who serves in the Texas state legislature.
She noted, however, that turnout among this demographic was not always strong.
And Manchester Park is no longer part of District 29.
Morales said that the neighborhood’s residents needed representation, rather than being drowned out in the redistricting.
“Having Sylvia Garcia’s voice in Congress has meant their struggles were not ignored. With the new map, Manchester Park would lose that advocacy in Washington — a devastating loss for a community that needs strong, fair representation the most,” she said.
– Gerrymandering –
State voting maps are usually redrawn every 10 years after a census is conducted, but it is not uncommon for political parties to attempt to gerrymander districts if they consider themselves at a political disadvantage.
Both parties have engaged in the practice, although Democrats have proposed rules to restrict it nationally.
Trump is facing low second-term approval ratings, as he undertakes an overhaul of large swaths of US policy, from mass deportations to sweeping trade wars.
“The felon in the White House wants five more Republicans, because he knows that his policies, his ideas are not working,” US Congresswoman Garcia said of Trump.
Trump was convicted in May 2024 on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with hush money payments to a porn star.
“He knows that he has plummeted under 40 percent approval rating, and he knows that they could lose the elections next year,” she told AFP.
Tommy Swate, an 80-year-old Republican who supports Trump, said he still backs Garcia as a legislator for Manchester Park.
“I’ve always supported the Democrats in this district, but I’m really a Republican. But I support who I think the best person is and not what party they belong to,” he said.
California, under Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, has counterattacked against the Texas redistricting move by pushing a similar drive to gain five more seats in Congress for Democrats in his state, offsetting any Republican gains.
Garcia said Republican-led states like Florida, Ohio and Indiana might also be planning redistricting to help Trump.
“Redistricting now has become a big power play. And the sad part is, you know, it shouldn’t be this way,” she said.
“If we’re going to have changes to maps after every election, it will be chaotic.”
AFP
