Texas Senate Redistricting

[jimrtex]

This will be an attempt to redistrict the 31 Senate districts in the Texas senate.  The objective will be to reduce the number of county splits, while maintaining the current configuration as much as possible.  The remainder of this message is repeated from another thread, and illustrates the population shifts needed to equalize population.  The particular shifts shown will not be used, because they will introduce added shifts, but they helped organize the overall changes.


This map shows the shifts for Texas 31 senate districts.  Since no new districts are created, it gives a better picture of intrastate growth.



The Houston area has a surplus of about 70,000 which is shown as an outflow from SD-3 and SD-18, which is mainly from growth in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties.  The DFW area has a surplus of about 120,000 which is shown as outflow from SD-2 and SD-30 as these districts become increasingly suburban, shedding more rural areas while suburban areas grow (senate districts needed to add 135,000 people to just keep even).

Central Texas has a surplus of about 175,000, which includes the excess from TX-5 and TX-14 from Williamson and Travis counties, plus the population needed to bring TX-16 in El Paso up to equality.

Inflows into rural areas include 80,000 in to SD-1 in northeast Texas, which is the only district in the eastern part of the state not to include a suburban area that provides enough growth to maintain the districts configuration.  Presumably the split of Smith County will be eliminated.

SD-13 and SD-19 in west Texas collectively need about 150,000, but SD-13 has to get its 85,000 from SD-19, which will bring it south to include all of the panhandle (the senate redistricting chairman is from Amarillo, so an Amarillo-Lubbock district is not on the table. 

SD-19 will probably need to take Abilene (Taylor County) though it is more than is needed from SD-24.  SD-24 can then extend north to absorb the excess from SD-30.  This will make Bell County the dominant area in SD-24 which is becoming a central Texas district.

SD-16 in El Paso needs enough about 50,000 more, which will place all of El Paso County in the district, and to reach closer to equality, Hudspeth, Culberson, and Jeff Davis.

SD-24 needs  net of about 25,000 as growth in places like Bell and Burnet counties have helped it keep up with the state.  But will the loss of Abilene, it has to continue moving east.  To avoid taking in part of Williamson or Travis counties, it might take Coryell from SD-22 and the southern part of the Hill Country from SD-19 and SD-25.  While SD-25, SD-26, and SD-19 slide north from San Antonio towards Austin.

SD-21 needs about 60,000 which in the flow map map would come from TX-18 taking counties in the direction of Victoria.

Since SD-19 will be losing the top if its tail in El Paso, it would make sense to remove it completely.  SD-31. SD-24, and SD-28 could nibble southward, and then Maverick, Val Verde, and the remnant of the Trans Pecos moved to SD-21.  Certainly Eagle Pass and Del Rio have more in common with Laredo than they do with San Antonio.   SD-19 then would then become a San Antonio and southern suburbs district.  SD-18 could be brought south to include San Patricio and Bee counties, while counties like Bastrop, Caldwell, and Gonzalez are shifted to SD-25.

SD-20 and SD-27 together have about the right population.  If Nueces were swapped for the eastern part of Hidalgo county, the Hidalgo split could be eliminated.



In the Houston area, SD-7 in has a surplus of 200,000; while SD-6 has a deficit of 170,000 and SD-13 has a deficit of 80,000.  Since the latter two are minority majority districts, the population shift may have to come from SD-15, with traditionally black areas in northwest Houston and Denver Harbor being moved into SD-13, and areas in east Harris county, Baytown, etc. being moved into SD-6.

It is likely that the fishhook of SD-17 will be eliminated.  The remainder of Jefferson and Chambers counties could be moved to SD-4, with SD-15 taking in northeast Harris County to compensate.  SD-11 could take in the remainder of Galveston, and let SD-6 come southward.  SD-22 would then take more of west Houston from SD-7.  Harris barely has enough population for 5 senators, so pushing SD-4 out of the county makes sense, which would leave SD-11 and SD-17 both partially in the county.



In the DFW area, SD-12 has a surplus of 210,000, and SD-8 has a surplus of 130,000; while SD-16 has a deficit of 170,000 amd SD-24 has a deficit 60,000.  SD-2 and SD-30 have small surpluses, but they need to replenish SD-1 in east Texas, and SD-24 and SD-28 further west, so they will need some population from the more central districts.

Presumably SD-16 and SD-23 will move northward.  Dallas County is a bit short of the population needed for 3 senate districts, so having SD-13 and SD-23 in Dallas County, and parts of SD-8 and SD-2 in the county would make more sense.  Collin County is just short of the population needed for its own senate district, so it SD-8 could end up as the entire county.  SD-9 and SD-12 would not be changed much, while SD-30 would take a much larger share of Denton County.  In 2020, Wichita Falls could be shifted west, and then SD-30 will become a suburban district with Denton County as its core.



In central Texas SD-5 and SD-14 have shifts which are shown as westward shifts to help replenish the west Texas districts, but would result in a a split of Williamson and and additional split of Travis.  An alternative is to transfer Coryell from SD-22 to SD-24, and then have SD-14 swing further south into SD-5.

The excess of SD-14 can be moved into SD-25, which could give up Kendall County to SD-24, with other portions going to SD-19, which would transfer Bandera, Real, Edwards, and Sutton to SD-24.

With the realignment of the western tail of SD-19 to SD-21 (see above), SD-5 would become definitively a San Antonio-Austin district, while SD-19 would become a San Antonio and southern suburban counties district.

The current five border districts are short about 150,000 short.  So instead of continuing to move them northward, reducing them to 4 districts which are likely to elect someone from a border community makes more sense.

[Sam Spade]

Since the latter two are minority majority districts, the population shift may have to come from SD-15, with traditionally black areas in northwest Houston and Denver Harbor being moved into SD-13, and areas in east Harris county, Baytown, etc. being moved into SD-6.

Denver Harbor is Hispanic, not black and is presently in SD-6.  5th Ward is black (though shifting, but not enough), and is presently in SD-13.  Pleasantville and Clinton Park (which may be what you're attempting to talk about) are black and can be shifted (looking a lot like the present TX-18 and TX-29 divide). 

With regards to Denver Harbor and 5th Ward, The dividing line is the railroad tracks to the west of Shotwell St.  In case you didn't know, that's also the dividing line between SD-6 and SD-13.  I don't think that the area between the railroad tracks and Lockwood is majority-Hispanic yet, though if it is, you can add that part to SD-6.

All the barrio Hispanics who live in Denver Harbor and the few poor whites don't want to be put in a Negro district nor want to live with Negros.  I should know this because I know most of them personally.  Thanks! 

[jimrtex]

Since the latter two are minority majority districts, the population shift may have to come from SD-15, with traditionally black areas in northwest Houston and Denver Harbor being moved into SD-13, and areas in east Harris county, Baytown, etc. being moved into SD-6.

Denver Harbor is Hispanic, not black and is presently in SD-6.  5th Ward is black (though shifting, but not enough), and is presently in SD-13.  Pleasantville and Clinton Park (which may be what you're attempting to talk about) are black and can be shifted (looking a lot like the present TX-18 and TX-29 divide). 

With regards to Denver Harbor and 5th Ward, The dividing line is the railroad tracks to the west of Shotwell St.  In case you didn't know, that's also the dividing line between SD-6 and SD-13.  I don't think that the area between the railroad tracks and Lockwood is majority-Hispanic yet, though if it is, you can add that part to SD-6.

All the barrio Hispanics who live in Denver Harbor and the few poor whites don't want to be put in a Negro district nor want to live with Negros.  I should know this because I know most of them personally.  Thanks! 

All I know about Denver Harbor is that they borrowed the street names from Denver.

There wouldn't seem like there would be enough people in Clinton Park and Pleasantville to draw the district lines down there, but they always do.  Is there some other reason?

Are the RR tracks used to split the attendance zones between Wheatley and Furr?

Former Lt.Governor Bill Hobby is going to be a volunteer helping Rodney Ellis on redistricting.  I think that SD-13 is going to have to take in areas like Clinton Park, Pleasantville and Acres Home.  And SD-15 is going to be pushed up to Kingwood and Spring.

[krazen1211]

The Democrats have 12 Senate districts now?

I have to think Republicans should be able to redistrict themselves a Senate district in South Texas. 3 in Houston, 2 in DFW, 3 in Austin/San Antonio/El Paso, and whatever along the border.

[Sam Spade]

All I know about Denver Harbor is that they borrowed the street names from Denver.

The east/west street names in Denver Harbor are taken from Texas towns/cities (Alderson, Gainesville, Eagle Pass, Corpus Christi, Laredo, Hillsboro, etc.).  I don't know the origin of the north/south street names (Shotwell, Hoffman, Woolworth, Kress, etc.) - probably early resident names, I suspect.

I know the Lyons family/relatives personally - and we helped defeating the annoying "powers that be" multiple times who wanted to rename the thing after Mickey Leland or Barbara Jordan (I forget which and it may be both).

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They do that because blacks be there.  Trust me. 

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Denver Harbor students are zoned to Wheatley, even though none of them want to go there.

This article points this fact out and other things, with pretty good accuracy.  PS - I've met Jay Grady and he's a complete nut - I happen to have a free copy of his stupid (beyond stupid book) though. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver_Harbor,_Houston

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It would make logical sense.

[jimrtex]

This message gives the current county splits.



There are 3 county splits outside the metropolitan areas.

Smith        1   120,846
Smith        2    45,772
Smith        3    43,096

Smith County (Tyler) is split between 3 senate districts.  The population in SD-2 and SD-3 is just a bit more than is needed to get SD-1 up to the ideal population.  It takes more than is necessary from SD-3 than is necessary, but this can be made up with smaller counties or perhaps giving Orange to SD-3 and shifting a bit out of Montgomery.

El Paso     19    41,746
El Paso     29   758,901

El Paso County no longer has enough population for its own senate district.  It is fairly close (98.5%), but there is no reason to not include some small counties like Hudspeth, Culberson, and Jeff Davis in SD-29.  They're a lot closer to El Paso than they are to San Antonio, Laredo, or Lubbock.

Hidalgo     20   448,654
Hidalgo     27   326,115

Currently Hidalgo County is split about 4:3 between SD-20 and SD-27.  SD-20 takes the western part of the county, and then extends up to Nueces County, while SD-27 includes Cameron County.  Hidalgo has about 95% of the population needed for a senate district.  The part of Hidalgo in SD-27 is almost as populous as Nueces County, so swapping the two would make the two districts more equal in population while eliminated the county split.



Jefferson    4   198,435
Jefferson   17    53,838

Chambers     4    35,096
Chambers    17         0

Galveston   11   260,205
Galveston   17    31,104

Brazoria    11   230,347
Brazoria    17    82,819

Currently the fishhook-shaped SD-17 extends from West U and Bellaire out through Fort Bend and then through Galveston and up to Port Arthur.

The splits of Jefferson and Galveston should be easy to eliminate.  If Brazoria is also un-split, then SD-17 is going to make up some population in Fort Bend or Harris counties.

Fort Bend   13    99,753
Fort Bend   17   183,945
Fort Bend   18   301,677

Fort Bend has population equivalent to 72% of a senate district, but currently has 3 senate districts.  If SD-13 is pushed back into Harris County, then it would be reduced to 2.

Harris       4   136,025
Harris       6   643,019
Harris       7 1,015,027
Harris      11   347,538
Harris      13   630,333
Harris      15   824,336
Harris      17   496,181

Harris County has barely enough population for 5 senators, but currently has 7 senate districts.  If SD-4 is pushed out, then there would 4 entirely in the county: SD-6, SD-7, SD-13, and SD-15, with SD-11 and SD-17 partiallly in the county.  There will have to fairly substantial shifts to balance the district population since the is about 385,000 difference between SD-7 and SD-6.

Montgomery   3   192,633
Montgomery   4   263,113

It may be difficult to remove the division of Montgomery county, since it somewhat necessary to maintaining SD-3's population.



Dallas       2   405,137
Dallas       8   272,358
Dallas       9   300,015
Dallas      16   641,007
Dallas      23   749,622

Dallas is just short of enough population for 3 senators.  If SD-8 is removed, the excess can be used to shore up SD-16 and SD-23 within the county, while SD-2 and SD-9 retain much there current shape in the eastern suburbs and the mid-cities.

Collin       8   668,605
Collin      30   113,736

Collin County has 96% of the population for a senate district.  If SD-8 is pushed out of Dallas, then it can form the entirely of the district, with perhaps a tiny part of Denton or Dallas counties included.

Denton       9   263,548
Denton      12   283,216
Denton      30   115,850

Denton County has 82% of the population needed for a senate district, but 3 senators.  SD-30 will need to extend further into the county, and a majority of its population will be in Collin, Denton, Wise, and Parker counties.  In 2020, Wichita Falls will get moved to a west Texas district and SD-30 will be a suburban district.

Pushing SD-9 back into Tarrant and Dallas county maybe doable if it expands outward in the northeastern Tarrant suburbs, or perhaps takes all of Arlington.  SD-10 and SD-12 would be moved northward,

Tarrant      9   244,344
Tarrant     10   834,265
Tarrant     12   730,425

Tarrant has population enough for 2.25 districts.  The share of SD-9 should grow as SD-12 is pulled northward (SD-12 is the 2nd most populouse senate district, with 200,000 excess persons).



Travis      14   872,176
Travis      25   152,090

SD-25 will need to add about 60,000 more persons in Travis County.  About 1/4 of the district will be in Austin.

Bexar       19   438,119
Bexar       21   152,898
Bexar       25   402,052
Bexar       26   721,704

Bexar County has population for 2.11 senators, but 4 senators.  SD-21 will swap its population with SD-19 for parts of the western tail of SD-19.  SD-19 will become more significant than SD-25 in San Antonio, as the latter is drawn northward.

[jimrtex]

The Democrats have 12 Senate districts now?

I have to think Republicans should be able to redistrict themselves a Senate district in South Texas. 3 in Houston, 2 in DFW, 3 in Austin/San Antonio/El Paso, and whatever along the border.

19:12  Dewhust carried 20 (including SD-10) and was with a couple of percentage points in SD-19, SD-20, and SD-21.

[jimrtex]

All I know about Denver Harbor is that they borrowed the street names from Denver.

The east/west street names in Denver Harbor are taken from Texas towns/cities (Alderson, Gainesville, Eagle Pass, Corpus Christi, Laredo, Hillsboro, etc.).  I don't know the origin of the north/south street names (Shotwell, Hoffman, Woolworth, Kress, etc.) - probably early resident names, I suspect.

Larimer, Arapahoe, Market, Glenarm, Colfax and Downing are Denver street names.  But it appears that Market is not named after the Denver Street.

An 1895 street map shows Market as Denver Street within Denver Harbor.    The same map shows the EW streets as being Larimer, Lawrence (now Leslie), Arapahoe, Denver (Market), Curtis (later Tremper, now East Freeway), Champa (Lyons), Welton (Hershe), California (Hillsboro), Glenarm, Colfax, Downing.

The north-south streets were numbered with 1st being about where Sakowitz is now, which was the western edge of the subdivision.  Most of the street names other than Colfax and Downing are in downtown Denver where they run SW/NE while the SE/NW streets are numbered.  So it is possible that they borrowed the numbers from Denver as well.

An exception was Wilson Avenue which was between 6th and 7th streets, it connected to a Wilson Addition which was south of Clinton Drive where it was the main street.  There is still a Harvey Wilson Drive in that area though it runs east west.  Wilson appears to have been associated with Houston Driving Park which in 1895 was the horse racing park for Houston.  It was in the NE part of Denver Harbor between Woolworth, Lathrop, Hillsboro, and Wallisville Road, and where the blocks run east west, rather than north south.  It appears that maybe this protected the Denver street names because they didn't connect to the streets further east, until some time later, even though when the area was platted, the streets matched the eastern street grid.

http://houstorian.wordpress.com/old-houston-maps/

I know the Lyons family/relatives personally - and we helped defeating the annoying "powers that be" multiple times who wanted to rename the thing after Mickey Leland or Barbara Jordan (I forget which and it may be both).

I thought they wanted to name the airport after Leland.  Remember Jim Westmoreland?

[freepcrusher]

the districts all look compact except for the 17th district. What's up with that? I know Chris Bell tried running there.

[jimrtex]

the districts all look compact except for the 17th district. What's up with that? I know Chris Bell tried running there.

SD-17 was an extremely Republican district in Harris, Fort Bend, and Brazoria county.  SD-4 included all of Jefferson County, and after the Republicans had picked it up 1994, lost it in 1998.  There may have been boundary changes involved, since Texas used different senate district boundaries in 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, and 1998.

Because of growth in Montgomery County the district had to lose some population so it was from Jefferson County.  In addition SD-4 had to take in some areas of Harris County that couldn't be put in SD-6, SD- 13, and SD-15 because those were intended to be Democratic districts.  This meant that the population had to be shifted and taken from SD-17 on the opposite side of Harris County which then absorbed the area in Jefferson County.

In 2002, the Republicans won SD-4 by 64% and SD-17 by 62%.  SD-4 has not been contested by since then, and SD-17 has only been contested by Libertarians, except the special election in 2008.  Chris Bell decided to run in that race since it had been a while since he had lost a legislative race, though he had of course lost a mayoral, congressional, and gubernatorial race in between.

The other Republican senate pickup in 2002 was more subtle.

Legislative districts are often less subject to partisan gerrymandering, though they are subject to incumbent protection gerrymandering.  The object of a partisan gerrymander is to cut the margins in your party's districts so that your party can win more seats.  But individual  legislators see a cut in their own district's margin as a threat to their own position.  Plus the role of a legislator may to look after the interests of their own district.  So the 1990's legislative redistricting by the Democrats had not been as extreme, but had a lot of county splits.  In addition districts had been overturned by the courts twice.  By 2000, Republicans had a majority in the Senate, so for the most part they just had to straighten out the boundaries and equalize population, and pick up two more districts.

[jimrtex]

Districts outside the major metropolitan areas have been update and are close to the ideal population.  The composite population of the metropolitan area districts is equivalent to an integer number of districts, though there is still quite a bit of internal adjustments to be made in those areas.

The following county splits were eliminated: Jefferson, Chambers, Galveston, Brazoria, Montgomery, Smith, Collins, El Paso, and Hidalgo.  One district was removed from the following split counties: Fort Bend, Harris, Dallas, Denton, and Bexar.

There are 7 split counties, the 5 largest than must be split: Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Bexar, and Travis, and two others Denton and Fort Bend.  While it would probably be possible to eliminate splits of these two counties, the resulting districts would result in additional districts from Harris, Tarrant, or Dallas extending outside those counties.



There are 12 districts comprised of whole counties.  Collectively, their population is equivalent to 11.999 times the ideal population.  The maximum total deviation is 2.7%.  The largest deviations are in SD-3 and SD-4 in southeast Texas, and SD-20 and SD-27 in south Texas.  In both cases, rather populous counties are involved, and to get closer without splitting counties the districts would be less compact.  The districts could be balanced with a shift of about 9,000 in Montgomery County form SD-4 to SD-3, and about 10,500 in Hidalgo County from SD-20 to SD-27.  Outside these districts, the maximum total deviation is 0.99%.

1   0.995  67%  13%  17%   1%   2%
1   0.901  69%  12%  16%   1%   2%

SD-1 is in northeast Texas.  The former 3-way split of Smith County (Tyler) was eliminated, so now the entire county is in SD-1.  Previously about 3.5 of Smith was in SD-1, with 1/5 in each of SD-2 and SD-3.  Smith is now the largest county in the district, displacing Gregg.  Hopkins and Delta counties were added from SD-2, and Rusk County shifted to SD-3 to balance population between the DFW and Houston areas.  In the above table, the first row is for the new district, and the second row is for the current district.  The first column is the population relative to the ideal district population of 811,147.  The percentages are the share of the district population that is Anglo, Hispanic, Black, Asian, and Other respectively.

3   0.987  71%  13%  14%   1%   2%
3   1.009  71%  15%  11%   1%   2%

SD-3 is in east Texas.  It gave up its portions of Smith and Montgomery counties, and added Rusk, Orange, Walker and Trinity counties.  Angelina County (Lufkin) is now the most populous county, replacing Montgomery County.  With the loss of Montgomery, the district will likely need to continue to expand in future decades.

With a deviation of minus 1.3% it has the second largest deviation.  While it would probably be possible to reduce this by swapping some smaller counties, the simplest solution would be to transfer about 9000 people from Montgomery County (eg Willis)

4   1.009  63%  19%  14%   2%   2%
4   0.974  68%  16%  12%   2%   2%

SD-4 is primarily comprised of Montgomery and Jefferson counties in southeast Texas.  SD-4 acquires the entirety of Montgomery, Jefferson, and Chambers counties, and gives up its share of Harris County.  Montgomery comprises about 4/7 of the district and Jefferson about 3/10.  In future decades it is unlikely to be possible to maintain this configuration without splitting counties.

5   1.005  62%  24%   8%   4%   2%
5   1.108  63%  21%  10%   4%   2%

SD-5 is in central Texas, with just over half its population in Williamson County.  Fueled by growth in that area it shed Limestone, Freestone, Houston, Robertson, and Leon counties to  SD-22, and Walker and Trinity to SD-3, while adding Bastrop and Fayette counties.  In future decades, the district will continue to contract towards Austin.

22  1.004  67%  20%  10%   1%   2%
22  0.973  67%  20%  10%   1%   2%

SD-22 is in central Texas from the Waco area up to the southern DFW suburban counties.  It lost Coryell County to SD-24 and picked up Limestone, Freestone, Robertson, Leon, and Houston to the southeast.  McLennan County remains the largest county, but overall the population of the district is split 3:2:2 between the suburban counties of Ellis, Johnson, and Hood; McLennan; and the other 10 counties.  It is in a relatively stable position, but if SD-24 is
expanded to McLennan County and SD-3 further encroaches to the southeast, the district may be pushed into more of a suburban DFW district, perhaps adding Parker or Kaufman counties or pushing north into Tarrant.

24  0.997  66%  20%  10%   2%   3%
24  0.959  65%  21%  10%   2%   3%

SD-24 is in central Texas including the Temple-Killeen-Fort Hood area, and most of the Hill Country.  SD-24 loses Taylor County (Abilene), along with Callahan, Coleman, and Blanco.  It picks up Coryell, Bandera, and Kendall, along with Stephens, Palo Pinto, Jack, and Young.  Half the population is in Bell, Coryell, and Lampasas counties in the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood area.  In future decades it may need to add McLennan county, which would realign SD-22 and SD-24 from their current East/West split to more of North/South split.

28  1.003  59%  33%   6%   1%   2%
28  0.868  56%  35%   6%   1%   1%

SD-28 is in west Texas and includes Lubbock, San Angelo, and now Abilene.  It adds Taylor (Abilene) and neighbors Callahan and Coleman counties, along with a strip of counties on its eastern edge: Wilbarger, Baylor, Throckmorton, and Shackelford, while giving up 10 counties in the Panhandle, along with Reagan County to SD-31.  34% of the district is in Lubbock County, 30% in Taylor and Tom Green, and 36% in the remaining 39 counties.  SD-28 will likely push east to include Wichita Falls in the next decade, though it is conceivable that there could be a realignment between SD-28 and SD-31, such as a Lubbock-Amarillo district, and another that wraps around from Midland-Odessa, San Angelo, Abilene, and Wichita Falls.

31  1.001  55%  38%   5%   1%   2%
31  0.896  54%  38%   5%   2%   2%

SD-31 is in far west Texas, including Amarillo and Midland-Odessa connected by a strip of counties west of Lubbock.  SD-31 adds 10 counties in the Panhandle and Reagan County from SD-28, plus Ward, Winkler, and Loving from SD-19.  In a bit of a curiousity, 14.9% of the district is in each or Potter and Randall counties, and 16.9% in each of Midland and Ector counties.  The other 37% of the population is distributed among 36 other counties.

29  0.997  13%  82%   3%   1%   1%
29  0.936  14%  81%   3%   1%   1%

SD-29 includes El Paso County and 3 neighbors in extreme west Texas.  The district picked up 42,000 person to eliminate an El Paso split, and continued slightly beyond.  98.6% of the district is in El Paso County.  It could perhaps stop there, but including the three remaining counties with a San Antonio or Laredo based district makes even less sense.  In the future, it is likely that SD-29 will expand to include most if not all of the thinly populated Trans Pecos.

[jimrtex]

I've about got Harris County done.  I need to do some more checking.

I switched 13 and 17, so that 13 will continue to extend into Fort Bend County and 17 will be entirely in Harris County, after lopping off parts of Jefferson, Chambers, Galveston, Brazoria, and Fort Bend.  Part of the area shown in slate will end up in 18.  The part of Fort Bend that is currently in 13 is about 50% Black, 30% Hispanic, 10% Asian, and 10% Anglo.  And I realized that after is shifted about 120,000 persons from the parts of 13 and 17 that are in Fort Bend to 18, that 60% of what was left would be the part from 13, and it would be hard to connect to 17.  So instead the part of Fort Bend in 13 will expand some.

Click To Texasize

[jimrtex]

I managed to put 3 incumbents into a single district.  It will take some effort to fix that.  But at least Mario Gallegos can live at home now.

I've about got Harris County done.  I need to do some more checking.

I switched 13 and 17, so that 13 will continue to extend into Fort Bend County and 17 will be entirely in Harris County, after lopping off parts of Jefferson, Chambers, Galveston, Brazoria, and Fort Bend.  Part of the area shown in slate will end up in 18.  The part of Fort Bend that is currently in 13 is about 50% Black, 30% Hispanic, 10% Asian, and 10% Anglo.  And I realized that after is shifted about 120,000 persons from the parts of 13 and 17 that are in Fort Bend to 18, that 60% of what was left would be the part from 13, and it would be hard to connect to 17.  So instead the part of Fort Bend in 13 will expand some.

Click To Texasize

[jimrtex]

As a special bonus, a map of Houston, showing the familiar shape of a galloping hedgehog with antlers and a television antenna, as a squirrel and a hunchback man in a stovepipe hat pushing a wheelbarrow try to avoid getting bucked off.

One measure of compactness is the ratio of the perimeter squared to the area.  A circle has a normalized value of 1.00.  A square of 1.27.  A Houston-shaped 13340-gon has a value of 60.0.

This is the same as a 4-mile wide strip across Texas, a shotgun house 560 feet deep and 3 feet wide, or a one millimeter-wide filament 18.6 cm in length.

Click To Texasize

[jimrtex]

New Harris County Map

Click To Texasize


Current Harris County Map

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Changes to Harris County

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Harris County has the population equivalent to 5.045 districts, but has all or part of 7 districts, and 6 senators.   3 districts, SD-6, SD-7, and SD-15 are entirely in the county.  86% of SD-13 is in Harris County, with the remainder in Fort Bend.  59% of SD-17 is in Harris County, despite its tail stretching through Fort Bend, Brazoria, Galveston, Chambers, and Jefferson to reach Port Arthur.  SD-11 is 41% in Harris County with the remainder in Galveston and Brazoria counties.  17% of SD-17 is in Harris County.

Since SD-4 had the smallest share of the county, and the only incumbent not from Harris County, it was pushed out. SD-11 would pick up all of Galveston and Brazoria, but would still need a share of Harris County to make up the population for a district.

Originally it was intended to pull SD-13 back into Harris County, so that 4 districts would be entirely within the county, and also so that the Fort Bend would be split between two districts, rather than three.  This would have left SD-17 extending into Fort Bend County. SD-17 currently has about twice as much of Fort Bend as SD-13 does, and since it was going to lose 20% of its population in the tail from Brazoria, Galveston, and Jefferson counties, it seemed to make sense to keep SD-17 in Fort Bend County.

This did not work out.  SD-18 needed a larger share of Fort Bend, which would have to come from the current SD-17.  SD-17 would then be taking over the part of Fort Bend that is currently in SD-13.  But for SD-13 to be entirely in Harris County, it would need to extend northwest along the Harris-Fort Bend line, which would cut off the Harris County portion of SD-17 from its new Fort Bend portion.

So instead SD-17 was made to be entirely in Harris County, and SD-13 will continue to extend into Fort Bend, with about 1/5 of the district in that county.

This left the districts with the following population relative to the ideal of 811 thousand:

SD-6  0.793
SD-7  1.251
SD-11 1.173 (includes all of Brazoria and Galveston counties)
SD-13 0.978 (includes added population in Fort Bend county)
SD-15 1.184 (includes area currently in SD-4)
SD-17 0.612 (that is only the Harris County part of the current district)

This would indicate moving the excess population from SD-11 to SD-6, the only neighbor of SD-11 in the county.  This also bring SD-6 to near quota.  

Then SD-17 would need to be augmented from SD-7 and SD-15.  But SD-15 is not generally adjacent to SD-17 and would require taking of John Whitmire's residence into SD-17.  Adding Kingwood (currently in SD-4) to SD-7 would permit more of the population from SD-7 to be moved to SD-17, but it would need to avoid taking Dan Patrick's residence.  So it makes sense for SD-17 to add areas from SD-13, while also avoid taking Rodney Ellis's residence.

This would leave SD-13 short of quota.  This can be made up from predominately black areas currently in SD-15, in northeast and northwest Houston, including Clinton Park and Pleasantville, outer portions of northeast Houston towards Greens Bayou, and Acres Homes.  The areas to the northeast are relatively easily added.  To get to the areas in the northwest, SD-13 needs to cross SD-6.  The extreme western tip of SD-6 in the Washington Avenue and Heights area is gentrifying and is an area that is close to John Whitmire's residence and can be added to SD-15.  A minimalist path for SD-17 northwest to Tidwell and the North Freeway was chosen.  If block data were used, a narrower path could be drawn, perhaps along a plath between the feeders of the North Freeway.

To complete the map, SD-6 adds areas in east  Harris County north of the Ship Channel as well as a new connector strip between the eastern and northern portion of the districts, between Greens Bayou and the Beltway (East and North Sam Houston Tollway).

SD-11

SD-11 is in southeast Harris County, northern Brazoria County (74%), and most of Galveston County (89%).  It is currently comprised of 41% Harris, 31% Galveston, and 27% Brazoria.

The remainder of Galveston (part of Galveston Island, and the Bolivar Peninsula, and Brazoria counties (Lake Jackson area) are transferred from the tail of SD-17.  This is about 114,000 persons, 57% Anglo, 29% Hispanic, 10% Black, and 2% Asian.

143,000 persons in Harris County are transferred from SD-11 to SD-6, including the remainder of Pasadena, except for the Clear Lake extension (ie everything north of Genoa-Red Bluff), plus areas along the Gulf Freeway south to roughly Dixie Farm Road.  The portions of Pearland and Friendswood that lap into Harris County would be excluded here.  This area is 51% Hispanic, 33% Anglo, 9% Black, and 6% Asian.  This area includes Mario Gallego's residence so that he won't have to live at his mom's house for electoral purposes.

Overall, the new district will be 39% Brazoria, 36% Galveston, and 25% Harris, and slightly less Hispanic.

11  0.997  58%  24%  11%   5%   2%
11  1.033  54%  28%  11%   6%   2%
SD-13

SD-13 is in central Houston, linking the historically black areas of Northeast Houston and South Houston (5th and 3rd wards and areas extended).  It also includes about 17% of Fort Bend County, in the portion of Houston in the county plus Missouri City.  Currently 86% of the district is in Harris and 14% in Fort Bend.

Areas in west Houston are transferred to SD-17, so that the latter district can be entirely in Harris County, these include River Oaks and areas in southwest Houston.  Some areas are transferred the other direction in an attempt to smooth out the boundary, and there will be additional areas in Fort Bend transferred to SD-13 so that the county will be split between two districts, SD-13 and SD-18.  The boundary between SD-13 and SD-17 consists of Brays Bayou, Hillcroft, and the Southwest Freeway.  This was mainly chosen so that boundary was continuous.  Bissonnet, Bellaire, or Beechnut could be used for a more east-west line.  The eastern edge of SD-17 was set along the eastern edge of West U (Kirby) and Shepherd so that Rodney Ellis's residence remains in SD-13.

139,000 persons are transferred from SD-13 to SD-17, 49% Hispanic, 18% Anglo, 16% Black, and 16% Asian; while 37,000 were transferred from SD-17 to SD-13, 52% Hispanic, 29% Anglo, 11% Black, and 7% Asian.  An additional 63,000 will be transferred in Fort Bend County.

34,000 persons in northeast Houston were transferred from SD-6 to SD-13.  These were mostly inside Greens Bayou where the SD-6 connector strip was moved further outward. There were also a few precincts along Liberty Road where the boundary was made more regular, and a connection to northwest Houston, just northwest of downtown.  This area is 47% Hispanic, 35% Black, and 13% Anglo.  A virtually unpopulated (2 person) precinct was transferred from SD-13 to SD-6 just east of the University of Houston to make the boundary more regular.

85,000 persons northeast and northwest Houston in historically black neighborhoods were transferred from SD-15 to SD-13.  These include Clinton Park and Pleasantville, inside Greens Bayou, where a few majority Black areas had been trimmed out of the SD-6 connector, and Acres Home in northwest Houston, as well as a connector strip to the latter area.  The population is 56% Black, 31% Hispanic, and 10% Anglo.

Overall, the district will be 47% Black, 30% Hispanic, 17% Anglo, and 5% Asian.  The minority share will increase when additional areas in Fort Bend are moved into SD-13.

13  0.922  17%  30%  47%   5%   1%
13  0.900  17%  32%  42%   8%   1%
SD-6

SD-6 is in east Houston and eastern Harris County, and north Houston, and is a heavily Hispanic district, currently 78% Hispanic, 12% Anglo, and 8% Black.  It is underpopulated by almost 170,000.

143,000 persons in Harris County are transferred from SD-11 to SD-6, including the remainder of Pasadena, except for the Clear Lake extension (ie everything north of Genoa-Red Bluff), plus areas along the Gulf Freeway south to roughly Dixie Farm Road.  The portions of Pearland and Friendswood that lap into Harris County would be excluded here.  This area is 51% Hispanic, 33% Anglo, 9% Black, and 6% Asian.  This area includes Mario Gallego's residence so that he won't have to live at his mom's house for electoral purposes.

The western tip of the northern part of the district is trimmed off and transferred to SD-15 to provide a path for SD-13 to reach northwest Houston (Acres Homes).  In addition the portions of Baytown that are currently in SD-6 are transferred to SD-15, so that Baytown is entirely in SD-15, rather than split among 3 districts.  The connector strip between the eastern and northern portions of the SD-6 is moved outward to between Greens Bayou and the Beltway.

SD-6 is expanded north of the Ship Channel, roughly to Liberty Road/Beaumont Highway and as far east as Sheldon Road.  This splits Channelview, but it is not incorporated it boundaries are not well defined.

107,000 persons are transferred from SD-15 to SD-6, 52% Hispanic, 27% Black, and 17% Anglo; while 46,000 persons are transferred from SD-6 to SD-15, 46% Hispanic, 41% Anglo, 8% Black, and 4% Asian.  34,000 persons are transferred from SD-6 to SD-13, 47% Hispanic, 35% Black, and 17% Anglo.

Overall, the district will be 73% Hispanic, 15% Anglo, and 9% Black, slightly less Hispanic than the current 78% Hispanic, 12% Anglo, and 8% Black.

6   1.003  15%  73%   9%   2%   1%
6   0.793  12%  78%   8%   2%   1%

[jimrtex]

Continuing with Harris County changes to SD-15, SD-17, and SD-7.

New Harris County Map

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Current Harris County Map

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Changes to Harris County

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SD-15

SD-15 is in north Houston and north Harris County, in a "C" shape on its side, wrapping around, SD-6 and SD-13.  The district is currently 46% Hispanic, 31% Anglo, 25% Black, and 4% Asian.

Areas in northeast Harris County, including all the remainder of Atascosita, and the remainder of east bank of the San Jacincto River are transferred from SD-4, as that district is removed from Harris County.  This area includes 79,000 persons, 69% Anglo, 20% Hispanic, and 8% Black.

Clinton Park, Pleasantville, and Acres Home are transferred to SD-13.  Clinton Park and Pleasantville are no longer reachable from SD-15 as SD-6 expands northward, and Acres Home is included as SD-13 is shifted northward to make room for SD-17 to be entirely in western Harris County.  85,000 persons are transferred from SD-15 to SD-13, 56% Black, 31% Hispanic, and and 10% Anglo.

Areas north of the Ship Channel as far north as Liberty Road/Beaumont Highway, including parts of Channelview are moved to SD-6.  In addition the connector strip between the northern parts and eastern parts of SD-6 is moved outward to between Greens Bayou and the Beltway in northeast Harris County.   In exchange, areas along Washington Avenue in and parts of the Heights in Inside-The-Loop West Houston are switched from SD-6 to SD-15.  These areas are gentrifying and are in the neighborhood of John Whitmire's residence (currently his residence is connected to the rest of SD-15 via Memorial Park).  Also the portion of Baytown that is currently in SD-6 is shifted to SD-15.  This results in all of Baytown being in SD-15, rather than the current 3-way split.  107,000 persons are shifted from SD-15 to SD-6, 52% Hispanic, 27% Black, 17% Anglo; while 46,000 persons are shifted from SD-6 to SD-15, 46% Hispanic, 41% Anglo, 8% Black, and 4% Asian.

SD-15 is expanded northwest east of the Northwest Freeway up to FM-1960, removing a notch in SD-15, and making the boundary between SD-7 and SD-15 along FM-1960 from the Northwest Freeway to the Eastex Freeway.   Jersey Village remains in SD-7, so that it is entirely in on senate district, and reasons of population equality.  A small area west of Gessner and north of the Katy Freeway is shifted to SD-7 to make a more regular boundary and population balance.  71,000 persons are transferred from SD-7 to SD-15, 40% Anglo, 32% Hispanic, 14% Black, and 12% Asian.  12,000 persons are transferred from SD-15 to SD-7, 47% Hispanic, 41% Anglo, 7% Asian, and 4% Black.

And finally, 7,000 persons in an area along Memorial east of Hunter's Creek Village are transferred from SD-15 to SD-17, as the latter district also takes in the 6 Memorial villages from SD-7.  This area is 70% Anglo, 17% Hispanic, 8% Asian, and 4% Black.

Overall, SD-15 remains a Hispanic plurality district.

15  0.998  31%  44%  19%   5%   1%
15  1.016  23%  46%  25%   4%   1%

SD-17

SD-17 currently begins in West U and Bellaire, squeezes west between Westheimer and Westpark and then expands west of Dairy-Ashford in west Harris County.  The district then drops southward through Sugar Land in Fort Bend County, between SD-13 and SD-18, before taking in western and southern Brazoria County, including Lake Jackson.  SD-17 then splits Galveston Island lengthwise, continues across the Bolivar Peninsula, an uninhabited snip of Chambers County near High Island, across the uninhabited Jefferson County where it heads north to include Port Arthur.

Despite this cross-country jaunt, which was viewed skeptically by one of the federal judges in 2001, 58.5% of the district is in Harris County, and 80.2% in Harris and Fort Bend counties.  Currently the district is 38% Anglo, 30% Hispanic, 17% Black, and 13% Asian.

The Jefferson and Chambers portions of SD-13 are transferred to SD-4, which will leave those counties entirely within SD-4.  54,000 persons, or 21% of Jefferson County, and 0 persons in Chamber County will be moved into SD-4.   This area is 40% Black, 30% Hispanic, 23% Anglo, and 6% Asian.

The Galveston and Brazoria portions of SD-13 are transferred to SD-11, which will leave these two counties entirely in SD-11, along with adjacent areas of southeast Harris County.  31,000 persons, or 11% of Galveston County, and 82,000 persons, or 26% of Brazoria County will be moved into SD-11.  The Galveston portion is 55% Anglo, 26% Hispanic, 13% Black and 4% Asian.  The Brazoria portion is 57% Anglo, 31% Hispanic, and 9% Black.

Originally it was my intent to retain a portion of Fort Bend County in SD-17.  But this would be in the eastern portion of Fort Bend County and not easily connected to the Harris part of the district.  In addition, the SD-17 portion is like many other parts of the district, a connector strip.  So instead Fort Bend County will be split between SD-18 and SD-13, and SD-17 will be entirely in western Harris County.   184,000 persons, or 31% of Fort Bend County will be transferred to SD-18 and SD-13, 40% Anglo, 26% Asian, 16% Black, and 16% Hispanic.

This leaves the remnant of SD-17 in Harris County with 496,000 person, 35% Hispanic, 34% Anglo 17% Black, and 12% Asian.  This area is short 315,000 of the necessary population, and thus requires extensive transfers from other districts, particularly SD-7 and SD-13.

River Oaks and other areas inside the Loop in west Houston were transferred from SD-13 to SD-17, as well as other areas west Houston to the west of the Southwest Freeway.  Some areas to the east the Southwest Freeway were transferred from SD-17 to SD-13.  The boundary between the two districts is Brays Bayou, Hillcroft, and the Southwest Freeway.  Bissonnet might be used to create a more east-west boundary, but this will require splitting more election precincts to eliminate the scars of the 1990s redistricting.  A more logical eastern boundary might be South Main, but it was left at the eastern edge of West U (Kirby) to keep the residence of Rodney Ellis in SD-13.

139,000 persons are transferred from SD-17 to SD-13, 49% Hispanic, 18% Anglo, 16% Black, 16% Asian.  37,000 persons are transferred from SD-13 to SD-17, 52% Hispanic, 29% Asian, 11% Black, and 7% Asian.

A large portion of the southern part of SD-7 is transferred to SD-17, including the Galleria, Tanglewood, Gulfton, the Memorial Villages, areas along Briar Forest in West Houston.  The boundary between SD-7 and SD-7 is the western edge of the Memorial villages, Hedwig Village, Bunker Hill Village and Piney Point Village; Buffalo Bayou west to Texas 6, and then north to around FM-529 (Freeman Road).  This keeps Dan Patrick's residence in SD-7.  A small area of SD-17 near the Katy Freeway, Texas 6, and Buffalo Bayou is transferred from TX-17 to TX-7 to keep Buffalo Bayou as the district boundary in that area.

213,000 persons are transferred from SD-7 to SD-17, 48% Anglo, 31% Hispanic, 12% Black, and 7% Asian.  8,000 are transferred to SD-17 to SD-8, 69% Anglo, 14% Hispanic, 9% Asian, 6% Black.

A small area between the Katy Freeway, the West Loop, Buffalo Bayou, and Hunter Creek Village was transferred from SD-15 to SD-17.  This area is demographically more like the Memorial villages and has 7,000 persons and is 70% Anglo, 17% Hispanic, 8% Asian, and 4% Black.

The final district has a slight Hispanic plurality, with a racial and ethnic distribution that is quite similar to that of the current Harris County portion of the district.

17  0.998  35%  36%  16%  12%   2%
17  1.045  38%  30%  17%  13%   2%

SD-7

SD-7 is in west Houston and northwest Harris County.  It is currently the most populous district in the state with over one million residents, an excess of 204,000. 

56,000 persons in Kingwood are moved from SD-4 to SD-7, as SD-4 is removed from the county.  This area is 81% Anglo, 12% Hispanic, 3% Black and 3% Asian.  Adding this area to SD-7 increases the excess population to 260,000.

213,000 persons in west Houston, including Tanglewood, the 6 Memorial villages, and an area along Briar Forest south of Buffalo Bayou, and areas in west Harris County outside Texas 6 north of Katy are shifted from SD-7 to SD-17, as the latter district becomes entirely in Harris County.  This area is 48% Anglo, 31% Hispanic, 12% Black, and 7% Asian.  About 8,000 persons in an area east of Texas 6, between the Katy Freeway and Buffalo Bayou are shifted the other way.  This area is 69% Anglo, 14% Hispanic, 9% Asian, and 6% Black.  With these transfers, the only portion of SD-7 south of the Katy Freeway is the part of Houston west of the Memorial villages, east of Texas 6, and north of Buffalo Bayou, which contains Dan Patrick's residence.

71,000 persons inside FM-1960 east of the Northwest Freeway are shifted from SD-7 to SD-15.  The boundary skirts Jersey Village, so that it remains entirely within one district.  It was retained in SD-7 for population equality reasons.  This area is 40% Anglo, 32% Hispanic, 14% Black, and 12% Asian.  12,000 persons west of Gessner are shifted the other way for reasons of population equality.  This area is 47% Hispanic, 41% Anglo, 7% Asian, and 4% Black.

After the changes, the district retains a slight Anglo majority.

7   0.995  55%  24%  11%   7%   2%
7   1.251  52%  27%  12%   8%   2%

[jimrtex]

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Changes to Fort Bend County

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Fort Bend has the population equivalent to 0.722 districts, and is divided among 3 districts.  SD-18 includes 52% of the county, in the northern part of the county in Katy and Cinco Ranch areas and areas to the west of Sugar Land, as well Richmond and Rosenberg and much of the area south and west of the Brazos River.  SD-17 includes 31% of the county including Sugar Land, the southern part of Missouri City, and a rural area south of the Brazos River.  The Fort Bend portion of SD-17 connects west Harris County with western and southern part of Brazoria county on the district's looping path to Port Arthur.  SD-13 includes 13% of the county, including most of Houston in Fort Bend County, Stafford, and northern Missouri City.

SD-17 is eliminated from the district as it contracts into a Harris County only district with its territory split between SD-13 and SD-18.
SD-13

SD-13 is a plurality Black district in southern and southwest Houston and northeast Houston, and eastern Fort Bend County.  About 14% of the district is in currently in Fort Bend County.

As part of the changes described in the Harris County section, historically Black areas in northwest Houston and northeast Houston are added to the district, while giving up areas in west and southwest Houston to SD-17, permitting that district to be concentrated in Harris County.

66,000 persons in Fort Bend County in the southern part of Missouri City and associated areas such as Sienna Plantation, along the Brazoria County line, and a tiny remnant of Stafford are moved from SD-17 to SD-13.  This area is 38% Anglo, 27% Black, 22% Asian, and 12% Hispanic.

After these changes, 20% of the district is in Fort Bend County, and the district comprises 28% of the county.

Overall, SD-13 remains a Black plurality district with a slight decrease in the Hispanic share of the population.

13  1.003  18%  29%  45%   6%   1%
13  0.900  17%  32%  42%   8%   1%

SD-18

SD-18 is an 18 county district stretching from near Corpus Christi, San Antonio and Austin to Fort Bend County.  35% of the district is currently in Fort Bend County, where it comprises 52% of the county population.  SD-18 currently has a surplus of about 50,000.

SD-18 gives up 99,000 from Bastrop and Fayette counties to SD-5, 58,000 from Caldwell and Gonzales counties to SD-19, and 15,000 from Refugio and Goliad counties to SD-21.

To make up for this loss of population, 118,000 persons are shifted from SD-17 in Fort Bend County, including Sugar Land, Meadows, and a rural area south of the Brazos River, as SD-18 slides towards Houston.  After these changes, 52% of the district will be in Fort Bend County, where it comprises 72% of the county.

The area shifted from SD-17 is 42% Anglo, 28% Asian, 18% Hispanic and 10% Black.

With the changes, the district goes from a bare Anglo majority to a Anglo plurality, with an increase in the Asian and Black share and decline in the Hispanic share.  SD-18 is one of 3 senate districts with a 10% or more Asian population, the others being SD-17 in west Harris County at 12%, and SD-8 in Collin County with 11%.

18  0.997  48%  28%  12%  10%   1%
18  1.062  51%  31%  11%   6%   1%

[jimrtex]

Southeast Texas Changes, including detailed changes in Harris and Fort Bend Counties.

County Splits of Montgomery, Jefferson, Chambers, Galveston, and Brazoria eliminated.  Number of senate districts in Harris County reduced from 7 to 6; number in Fort Bend reduced from 3 to 2.  Overall reduction in county fragments reduced from 17 to 4.

Long tail of SD-17 chopped off, with Jefferson and Chambers shifted to SD-4; Galveston and Brazoria shifted to SD-11; and Fort Bend portion split between SD-13 (Missouri City) and SD-18 (Sugar Land and southern part of county)

SD-3 moved out of Montgomery County, in exchange for Orange County.  SD-3 is now entirely outside the Houston metro area.

SD-4 moved out of Harris County, with Kingwood shifted to SD-7, and remainder of Atascocita and areas east of the San Jacincto River, east of Lake Houston and in the Baytown area shifted to SD-15.  SD-4 now includes the whole of Montgomery, Jefferson, and Chambers counties.

SD-11 remainder of Pasadena, except the Clear Lake extension and areas of Houston along the Gulf Freeway shifted to SD-6.  SD-11 now includes the whole of Galveston and Brazoria counties.

SD-6 picks up most of Pasadena and areas along the Gulf Freeway from SD-11.  It also picks up areas along north of the Ship Channel including Cloverleaf and parts of Channelview.  The connecting string between the eastern and northern part of the district is moved outward to between Greens Bayou and the Beltway.  SD-6 gives up its portion of Baytown, and the old connecting strip inside Greens Bayou.  The western tip of the district in the Washington Avenue and Heights area is shifted to SD-15.

SD-13 adds Clinton Park and Pleasantville in northeast Houston, and Acres Homes in northwest Houston from SD-13.  It also expands outward in northeast Houston to Greens Bayou.  In Fort Bend County, it gains the remainder of Missouri City, Sienna Plantation, and the tiny bit of Stafford not already in the district.  SD-13 gives up areas in west Houston to SD-17, including River Oaks and areas west of the Southwest Freeway.

SD-15 gains all of Harris County east of the San Jacincto River, including the entirety of Baytown.  It also extends northward to include all of Atascocita and picks up some areas along the Northwest Freeway out to FM-1960.  It also includes a part of inner-loop west Houston including areas along Washington and Memorial.  It in turn gives up Clinton Park and Pleasantville and Acres Homes to SD-13, and areas north of the Ship Channel to SD-6, and part of Memorial to SD-6.

SD-17 is now entirely in Harris County, expanding in west Houston and west Harris County at the expense of SD-13 (River Oaks and areas west of the Southwest Freeway), SD-7 Gulfton, Tanglewood, the 6 Memorial villages, areas along Briar Forest, and areas outside Texas 6 in the Katy are), and SD-15 (west of Memorial Park).  It loses its tail in Fort Bend, Brazoria, Galveston, Chambers, and Jefferson counties.

SD-7 adds Kingwood, and gives up areas in West Houston and the Memorial villages to SD-17, and along the Northwest Freeway to FM-1960 to SD-15.  It retains the portion of West Houston between the Katy Freeway and Buffalo Bayou west of the Memorial villages.

SD-18 adds Sugar Land and southern Fort Bend County from SD-17.

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[jimrtex]

Dallas County Changes.  SD-8 is eliminated from the county with the Dallas County portion shifted to SD-16.  SD-23 extends south to the county line, and other districts changed to conform better with city limits.

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[jimrtex]

Tarrant County Changes, SD-9 takes all of Arlington, Mansfield, and Euless as it replaces the area dropped from Denton County.  SD-10 loses its finger in northeast Tarrant County but take in new areas of Fort Worth to the north along with numerous enclave citiies.  SD-12 consolidates in northeast Tarrant County.

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[jimrtex]

Denton County Changes, SD-9 leaves the county, with its portion of Carrolton, Lewisville, and Flower Mound transferred to SD-12.  SD-30 moves south taking the remainder of Denton, as well as Corinth, Lake Dallas, Little Elm, and the Denton County portion of Frisco, as well as some areas in western Denton County including Justin and Ponder.

SD-12 retains The Colony, the parts of Lewisville and Flower Mound already in the district, plus Highland Village, Copper Canyon, Lantana, Double Oak, Bartonville, Argyle, and Trophy Club.

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[jimrtex]

North Texas Changes, including detailed changes in Dallas, Denton, and Tarrant Counties.

County Splits of Smith and Collin eliminated.  Number of senate districts in Dallas County reduced from 5 to4, number in Denton reduced from 3 to 2.  Overall reduction in county fragments reduced from 13 to 6.

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[jimrtex]

Travis County Changes.   Roughly 60,000 persons shifted from SD-14 to SD-25 in order to keep SD-14 at ideal population size and entirely within Travis County.  The area moved is south of the Colorado River and generally within the Austin city limits, but includes enclaves such as West Lake Hills and Rollingwood, but not the areas south of Lake Travis.

Blanco, Bastrop, and Caldwell counties are also shifted.  The latter two are removed from SD-18 as that district retracts towards Houston.  Bastrop is moved to SD-5 as that district becames clearly an Austin suburban district.  Caldwell is moved to SD-19 as that district is realigned.  Blanco is moved to SD-14 for population balance.

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[jimrtex]

Bexar County Changes.   Roughly 150,000 persons in eastern Bexar County shifted from SD-21 to SD-19 as SD-21 is removed from the county.  About 90,000 persons in northern San Antonio shifted from SD-25 to SD-26 to equalize population.

Surrounding counties are also shifted.  Kendall and Bandera shifted to SD-24 as that district takes the entire Hill Country.  Medina shifted from SD-19 to SD-21, and Wilson from SD-21 to SD-19 as part of realignment of those two districts.  Guadelupe shifted from SD-25 to SD-19.  Comal and Atascosa remain part of SD-25 and SD-21, respectively.

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[jimrtex]

Central Texas Changes, including detailed changes in Bexar and Travis Counties.

Population shifted from SD-14 to SD-25 in Travis County and from SD-25 to SD-26 in Bexar County to equalize the population of the single county districts SD-14 and SD-26.  Bexar portion of SD-21 moved to SD-19 as SD-21 is moved out of Bexar County and realigned as border district, while SD-19 becomes a San Antonio and nearby county district.

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