Controversial redistricting approved amid public protests and partisan debates
By Caroline Vandergriff
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Texas (KTVT) — Tarrant County commissioners approved a controversial redistricting proposal late Tuesday afternoon.
It was a long and contentious day at the Commissioners Court with more than 200 people speaking about redrawing boundary lines during public comment.
The majority who spoke were against redistricting, including the mayors of Arlington, Mansfield, and Forest Hills. But there were still a good number of speakers who expressed their support. Several used the phrase “don’t Dallas my Tarrant.”
Commissioners moved into executive session around 3 p.m. after some tense moments between the two Democrats and the three Republicans.
As Commissioner Alisa Simmons expressed all the reasons she is against redistricting, Judge Tim O’Hare abruptly moved to executive session in an effort to limit her comments.
O’Hare is spearheading this process and has been clear that it’s about partisan politics. He wants another Republican seat on the court to ensure conservative leadership for the next decade.
But critics believe it’s racial gerrymandering.
The new maps do appear to take areas with high Black and brown populations from precinct two and put them in precinct one.
Commissioners moved to vote on map 7, a new option that was only publicly revealed late Friday afternoon.
That means the court and the public only had three days to review it before the scheduled vote.
It’s only been nine weeks since commissioners hired a conservative law firm to come up with the maps. They’ve been widely criticized for the speed of this process.
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