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3mo ago

Tarrant County Commissioners Adopt Map Likely to Boost Republican Majority

Opponents vow to sue over claims the plan sidelines communities of color in violation of federal voting rights protections.

A map of the four precincts in Tarrant County.
Meeting attendees pack the court room for a Tarrant County Commissioners Court meeting at the Tarrant County Administration Building in Fort Worth on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. The approval for redistricting is on the agenda for the meeting and has been a controversial topic for the communities possibly affected.
The voting board at the Tarrant County Commissioners Court at the Tarrant County Administration Building in Fort Worth on Tuesday, May 6, 2025.
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Overview

  • On June 3, the five-member Commissioners Court approved Map 7 by a 3-2 party-line vote, choosing the most conservative option among seven plans drawn by the Public Interest Legal Foundation.
  • The new boundaries reshape Democratic-leaning Precincts 1 and 2, flipping Precinct 2 to a Republican majority and reducing majority-minority districts from two to one under outdated 2020 census data.
  • Local mayors, civil rights organizations and Democratic commissioners have condemned the measure as racially discriminatory and a breach of the Voting Rights Act.
  • Nine citizen-submitted map proposals were excluded from consideration, prompting accusations that community input was ignored in favor of partisan objectives.
  • Democratic Commissioners Alisa Simmons and Roderick Miles, alongside groups including the Texas ACLU, plan to challenge the map’s legality in federal court.