AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas Lt. Gov Dan Patrick and the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Dustin Burrows announced Monday in separate press releases the formation of a Senate Special Committee and a House Select Committee to tackle congressional redistricting during the ongoing special called session of the Texas Legislature.
The committees have under a month to agree on a redrawn map of congressional districts, in order to meet one of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s goals for the session. It’s also a request from President Donald Trump, who asked the Texas GOP to redraw its map in order to gain the Republican Party five congressional seats.
Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, will chair the Senate Special Committee and Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, will be vice chair. Other Republicans on the committee are Sen. Bryan Hughes, Sen. Tan Parker, Sen. Angela Paxton and Sen. Kevin Sparks.
Democrats Sen. Carol Alvarado, Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa and Sen. Borris Miles are also on the Senate committee.
According to Burrows’ announcement, the committee will be led by Rep. Cody Vasut, R-Angleton, as chair and Rep. Jon Rosenthal, D-Houston, as vice chair. In terms of party affiliation, the committee includes 11 other Republican members and eight Democratic members.
Republicans on the committee include Reps. Charlie Geren, Ryan Guillen, Cole Hefner, Hillary Hickland, Todd Hunter, Will Metcalf, John McQueeney, Katrina Pierson, David Spiller, Carl Tepper and Terry Wilson.
Democrats on the committee include Reps. Josey Garcia, Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, R.D. “Bobby” Guerra, Christian Manuel, Joe Moody, Senfronia Thompson, Chris Turner and Gene Wu.
Wu previously spoke with Nexstar about redistricting.
“Anytime you hear them talk about redistricting, especially if it’s in the middle of the cycle, all this is about political games and trying to destroy our democracy,” Wu said.
In a joint statement with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Burrows spoke to concerns about fairness.
“Texans place their trust in the Legislature to uphold fairness in the redistricting process, and we will continue to work closely together to fulfill this legislative responsibility,” Burrows said.
At time of writing, the committee does not yet have any scheduled meetings listed online.
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