EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, expressed concerns that the proposed mid-decade Texas redistricting map will negatively impact El Paso’s representation in Congress, as it moves major parts of El Paso County, including Fort Bliss and El Paso International Airport, into a district that spans from east El Paso to San Antonio to the U.S.-Mexico border.
The redistricting map proposal released on Wednesday suggests changes to multiple districts, including those that include El Paso and Fort Bliss. According to the proposed map, El Paso International Airport and the majority of Fort Bliss will go to Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, which currently belongs to U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas.
In the image below, the red lines indicate the newly proposed redistricting for Texas’ 16th and 23rd Congressional Districts. Escobar currently represents District 16.
Gonzales currently represents 28 counties from Far East El Paso to San Antonio and down to the U.S.-Mexico border.
According to our Austin newsroom, the proposed map will be discussed further during a hearing of the Texas House Select Committee, which is scheduled for 9 a.m. MST on Friday.
The last time Texas looked at redistricting earlier than normal was in 2003. At that time, it reportedly led Democrats to flee the state to Oklahoma to break decorum.
Soon after the proposed redistricting maps were made public, Escobar released a statement criticizing the proposed congressional lines, saying El Pasoans will not be represented or heard:
“Republicans, at the behest of Donald Trump, have engaged in a mid-decade redistricting that will impact federal representation for urban communities in Texas, including El Paso. The current proposed map strips major parts of El Paso County, all of Fort Bliss, the El Paso International Airport (ELP), and the new Veterans Affairs Health Care Center (that I was able to secure $700 million in funding for) from having local representation. Instead, they are moved to a district that spans from San Antonio to the Borderland, includes two other military installations, and holds the conflicting interests of 27 counties across Texas (forcing Fort Bliss, our airport, and VA Center to compete for limited and shrinking resources).
“This means our needs would be handed over to a representative who regularly votes against the interests of El Pasoans (who has voted to cut Medicare, Medicaid, veterans programs, nutrition programs, infrastructure funding, water and wastewater funding, and more), only briefly visits the district when time permits, and who prioritizes assets and needs of constituents who are closer to his home in San Antonio.
“The proposed map, however, is nearly identical to the 2021 proposed map that El Pasoans successfully pushed back against, proving definitively that this fight isn’t over. We’ve been through this redistricting battle before and El Pasoans stood up to demand our community be represented by someone who lives here, not over 500 miles away. I’d encourage El Pasoans to stay engaged and informed, and participate in the hearing scheduled for Friday and make their voices heard.”
On Wednesday, Escobar told reporters during a virtual news briefing that there has been no accountability or many meetings with Gonzales in El Paso.
“When you have a member of Congress who lives 500 miles away and who really only parachutes into El Paso for a day, sometimes, maybe two days if their constituents are lucky, and does photo ops and leaves. That makes it very challenging to hold that member accountable,” Escobar said. “I think there’s been zero town hall meetings by this member of congress in the El Paso area and I think all meetings are essentially controlled, as a way to demonstrate that there’s a meeting happening in El Paso, not in the same way that a regular member of Congress has with open town hall meetings.”
Michael Aboud, chairman of the El Paso County Republican Party, sent KTSM 9 News the following statement on Wednesday regarding the redistricting proposal map:
“Concerning the redistricting of Texas Congressional districts and shifting part of the eastside of El Paso to District 23 from District 16.
“That really doesn’t help El Paso.
“While Gonzales will do as fine a job as can be expected, El Paso is still getting ignored by both Austin and Washington. We are being ignored because too many of the voting populous vote for Democrats, even though they will promise the world, but intentionally only deliver sand.
“As big as West Texas is, we deserve three congressional districts which would be made up in the following way: West El Paso would be (District) 16, the Southern and South-Eastern portion being (District) 23, with the Northeast and East El Paso going to (District) 11.
“As for the democrats saying they are leaving town, GREAT! Please go and stay for a long time.”
Texas’ neighboring 11th Congressional District stretches from Odessa to the ouksirts of Austin.
KTSM 9 News on Wednesday reached out for comment from Gonzales’ office but they had not responded by the time of publication. This article will be updated if we hear back.
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