NYT: Day of Joy Dawns for Republicans, Proud Owners of Texas Districting Map
By RALPH BLUMENTHAL and KATE ZERNIKE
Published: June 29, 2006
HOUSTON, June 28 — For Texas Republicans, it was a day of jubilation.
Taunting Democrats as "bad-tempered children," they exulted in Wednesday's Supreme Court decision broadly approving their disputed 2003 Congressional redistricting in the state. By extension, the ruling also allowed partisan line-drawing by statehouses across the country whenever political tides shift.
"Today is a clear victory for our state," said Gov. Rick Perry, the Republican incumbent in an unusual five-way race with two independents in November.
Some Democrats took comfort in part of the court's ruling that said the state's largest district, covering much of West and South Texas, violated Hispanic voting rights, but they warned that the overall decision could set off redistricting wars nationwide. And some political experts said the ruling would aid incumbents of either party by perpetuating whichever one was in power in a state.
"Safe seats will breathe a sigh of relief," said Julian Zelizer, professor of history at Boston University. But others predicted that few states would actually try to redistrict more than once a decade, even if they are now permitted to do so....
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/29/washington/29texas.html?_r=1&oref=slogin