Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) testified at a Texas House of Representatives hearing on redistricting on Friday and argued that Congressional districts should be based on race. Crockett noted that 23 of the 25 Republicans in Texas who represent a wide swath of Latino constituents in the U.S. Congress are “Anglos,” and only two of them are Latino. Crockett cited a district that is 70% Latino being represented by an “Anglo” Republican and asked, how does a state with an Anglo population of 39% end up with Anglos making up 60% of the seats? State Representative Katrina Pierson (R-TX-33), who served as the national spokesperson for Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, reminded Crockett that President Trump won the majority of the Hispanic vote in Texas. “So thinking about it in that way, a reflective map would look like the fact that only 39% of this state is Anglo. So how in the heck do we have 60% of the seats that go to DC are going to be decided by Anglos?” Crockett asked. “That’s the math that doesn’t work,” she added.

TEXAS STATE REP. KATRINA PIERSON: In previous hearings, I mentioned specifically that in the state of Texas, President Trump did win the majority of the Hispanic voters in the state. And just to broaden that even further, I mean, those are the numbers. President Trump did win the majority of the Hispanic votes in the state. In fact, he flipped, I believe it was 10 counties in the state. So don’t you think that is reflective of this map, this proposed map, that the minorities who are here with the new majority minority districts that have been created, it is reflective? U.S. REP. JASMINE CROCKETT (D-TX): No, Representative, I don’t. Again, it’s just based upon, I mean, this is just pure math. Like, I’m not trying to pick who is going to vote for who, because as it was stated earlier, the idea that anybody is a monolith is wild anyway, right? Because first of all, Latinos down at the border, they are not the same as Latinos, say, in the DFW or in Harris County. So I don’t want to pretend as if any minority group is a monolith, which is one of the reasons that we talk about communities of common interest. Because we work together, and we function together, and we do things a little differently. I mean, I’m sure there are even black folk in Houston that will argue that they’re not the same as Dallas black people, right? It’s an ongoing thing. But nevertheless, what I will say is that that is why you shouldn’t just be grabbing up people from wherever and saying, oh, are they all the same race? It is bigger than that. It is trying to make sure. And you brought up compactness earlier. And so compactness is one of those things that you consider as well. Because again, it is different. When you look at a state the size of Texas, you know how many states you can fit in our state, right? So thinking about it in that way, a reflective map would look like the fact that only 39% of this state is Anglo. So how in the heck do we have 60% of the seats that go to DC are going to be decided by Anglos? That’s the math that doesn’t work. We need to flip the numbers so that people of color, no matter who they vote for, if they decide they’re voting for Trump, then you’re right. Because of the 13 democratically elected seats in the state of Texas, one of those seats was a majority white seat. That’s it. Everybody else, it was people of color that sent us to DC. But when we look at the Republicans of the 25 seats, 23 of those seats are Anglo majority seats. Two of those seats, Latinos are the ones that chose. And I don’t have a beef with that. That’s who they elected, and that is perfectly fine. So they have two Anglo seats that are Republican. I’m sorry, two Latino opportunity seats that elected Republicans. That is perfectly fine. People vote for who they vote for, but don’t divide our communities and dilute our voices. And that’s why we’re here, because we feel like we’re being diluted, because we’re packing black folk. I mean, the bill author mentioned that there’s some district that went up to over 70-something percent Latino. That is packing. You don’t need almost 80% Latinos for that district to perform as a Latino opportunity seat. And so you don’t.

RealClearPolitics Videos