Texas Redistricting Battle Ends.. GOP to gain 6-7 Seats

I don't know who Bill White is, so I can't be involved in that conversation.

 

Sanchez has two things going for him. His last name and the fact that he is a Republican. Other than that, he's failed at every single thing he's ever tried to do. His only success has been to be a very good Uncle Tomas.

This is no reflection on my opinion of any particular race and you know that. It's my reflection on a proven loser, bad at everything he's ever tried, whom the GOP is cynically attempting to sneak into the mayor's chair by virtue of his last name.

I know, as a "Spanish speaker," you're deeply offended. Report me then, tattletale. You're great at that.

 

LMFAO, yeah, us hispanics are real offended. Rich cubans like Orlando Sanchez have about as much connection to working class mexican- and central- american families in houston as Jean Claude Van-Damme does to your average Haitian. A lesson that he will find out, for the second time.

 

Shouldn't it be Tito Tomàs?
Two JCVD mentions in a single thread... sweet.

 

For me, I have been opposed to THIS redistricting because it is happening outside the time frame that is set aside for doing this. Perry couldn't get a redistricting bill done (at least not one that he liked) in 2001 because the statehouse was still Democrat. A three judge panel did the redistricting for this decade and redistricting should not have come up until after the next census.

While it is true that judges did the redistricting, it is also true that if Perry was going to push through three special sessions on redistricting, it should have been done in 2001, not 2003. If we are going to set the precedent that we can redistrict any time there is a change in power at the statehouse, we are going to have this same partisan fight over and over every time power shifts.

As to redistricting in general, IMO, it should be done by a computer rather than people who have a vested interest in how the districts are drawn. We can take the gerrymandering out of redistricting, but that would take power away from the politicians and would actually be *gasp* fair to all the voters, something the politicians can't handle. After all, why should the voters have the power?

 

Here is who Sanchez sleeps with..people who want contracts with the city of houston


http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/ec/elex/2124518


Friends of Sanchez
Here are some of the key individuals and interests backing former Houston City Councilman Orlando Sanchez for mayor:


· Harris County Republican Party -- The GOP is spending tens of thousands of dollars on advertising that labels mayoral candidate Bill White a liberal, hoping to boost the candidacy of Sanchez, their fellow party member. A Hispanic, Republican Houston mayor would be an instant GOP star as both parties try to woo the growing Hispanic vote.

· Jack Rains -- Lawyer and City Hall lobbyist, a major force in the 2001 campaign -- when Sanchez lost a runoff to incumbent Lee Brown -- has taken a lower-profile position in the 2003 Sanchez campaign. His clients include Morgan Stanley, which has been seeking a portion of a proposed refinancing of the city's $3.6 billion water and sewer debt as well as possible debt to cover the city's pension payments.

· Michael Stevens -- Suburban apartment developer is heading a big-dollar campaign against Metro's Nov. 4 transit referendum because he prefers more roads and less rail than Metro is proposing. Sanchez takes the same position.

· Ned Holmes -- The developer and former Port of Houston Authority chairman remains one of the city's steadiest power brokers and considered a run for mayor himself. He helped the last three mayors raise money and now serves as Sanchez's campaign finance chairman.

· Turner, Collie & Braden -- Houston's influential engineering firm prepared a $1.2 billion comprehensive drainage project for the city and is helping manage the project. In the coming years, the company is expected to vie for about $50 million in annual drainage construction contracts. The company's political action committee gave the Sanchez campaign $10,000

 

more about Mr. Sanchez

"Houston mayoral candidate Orlando Sanchez's financial documents portray him as president of or partner in several companies -- an impressive list if the companies existed. Most were just names, though, and never got off the ground." (Houston Chronicle, November 18, 2001)

"On financial disclosure forms, Sanchez calls himself the proprietor of Ban-Tex Investments and a partner in S&L Properties. Both companies are simply names he has reserved the right to use and nothing more." (Houston Chronicle, November 18, 2001)

"He also lists himself as president of Sanchez Consultants, LLC, a company that he said in an interview 'never materialized.'" (Houston Chronicle, November 18, 2001)

"On his campaign Web site, Sanchez says he is managing director of Nexo Latino, a Hispanic marketing firm started by a friend about a year ago. In an interview, Sanchez referred to himself as an investor rather than an active participant in the company." (Houston Chronicle, November 18, 2001)

"He also mentions on the Web site that he was vice president of operations at Lowry Graphics, a company that dissolved, filed for bankruptcy and was sued several times during the oil bust of the 1980s. Sanchez, who left the company when the financial problems started, oversaw the print shop there and said he had "zero" responsibility for the money troubles. 'Titles are cheap,' he said. 'I had no decision-making on the financials of the corporation.' ·He then moved to Lowry Graphics, eventually working his way up to vice president. When Lowry Graphics "started going down the tubes," Sanchez left the company and enrolled at the University of Houston." (Houston Chronicle, November 18, 2001)

"In Sanchez's personal income tax returns -- which he voluntarily supplied to the Chronicle -- he lists from $10,000 to $14,000 a year in business losses every year since 1996. His income, including his $44,000-a-year council salary, never surpassed $47,000 in the past six years. He said the losses were the cost of trying to keep his consulting work going. 'There are expenses associated with trying to maintain a company that isn't bringing in revenue,' Sanchez said. 'Obviously, you lose. At some point you just cut your losses and say, `The hell with it.' (Houston Chronicle, November 18, 2001)

 

Andy, here is a quote from State Senator Jeff Wentworth, a Republican... who is the foremost proponent of having a non-partisan redistricting commission. His proposal, which he tried again this session (the regular one), was shot down in a Republican dominated committee. (not that the Democrats would have voted for it if they had a majority... gotta be fair)

Anyway, here's the quote:


"The fight is not over, and it will not be over until the court of last resort has its say," said Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas. "I think, because of its aggressive nature, someone should stop it. If the Department of Justice is doing its job, it will."
........................
Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, said he voted for the map because it's important to elect more Republicans to Congress to help Bush. But he questioned the final map, which would give Republicans as many as 22 seats in Congress, saying, "It's too greedy."

Dewhurst said more minorities will be elected to Congress under the Republican map, but West, an African American, said it would come at the expense of several white Democratic members who support minority issues.

"I'd rather have four or five votes at the table that will work with me on issues than just to have someone who looks like me," West said.

www.statesman.com



Sounds like he thinks they overreached. Let's hope the courts bear that out.

 

I don't think the Justice Department will stop it. The Republican-controlled Justice Department didn't step in and stop the huge partisan power grab that was the 1990 redistricting in Texas. I would think there would be even less desire for this Justice Department to stop it.

If the map gets shot down, I think it'll be through the courts. Though I don't know if that's all that likely, either. I mean, agressiveness is not, as far as I know, one of the things that makes a map illegal. The only limits I know have to do with laws protecting minority voting rights, which may or may not be an issue with this map.

There is a difference between wrong and illegal.

 

Nick Lampson (my representative) is also one of them.

 

I think edit is back on.

 

Though the 9th District isn't nearly as clear-cut Republican as the others mentioned. They voted for Perry and Cornyn, but at lower rates than the statewide average, and they voted for Sharp over Dewhurst.

It would certainly be a district that leans Republican, but not as clear cut as someone like Stenholm's district, etc.