Jean McIver, SREC – Senate District 12

It’s only three weeks until the Texas GOP Convention! The SREC Convention Committee is working very hard with RPT staff and volunteers to pull together all of the final details for the Convention.

Last week, the RPT mailed a Pre-Registration form and flyer to all delegates and alternates who had not yet pre-registered online for the State Convention. We encourage all attendees to PRE-REGISTER for the Convention to help avoid long lines and delays on-site.

All pre-registered attendees will be able to pick up their credentials in a quick and easy registration setup separate from the on-site registration. Register today!

This week, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram ran a feature story on the 2012 Texas GOP Convention and what our event means to the City of Fort Worth. In the story, the Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau is quoted as stating that our Convention will be the largest event held in the Fort Worth Convention Center this year! As you can see – we’ll be operating in close quarters this year! We encourage everyone to pre-register to help avoid pile-ups at the registration windows. Please remember that the site of this year’s convention was chosen several years ago when the RPT State Convention delegate strength was smaller than currently provided for in RPT Rules. Your Convention Committee and the RPT staff have been working to find ways to keep everything flowing smoothly to ensure a great Convention experience for all.

Convention Events & Activities:

RPT Staff has been working to compile a list of other Republican events and activities happening in conjunction with the Texas GOP Convention in Fort Worth from June 7-9. There are a number of exciting things for all of our attendees to choose from, including:

• RNC For Life Luncheon w/ Phyllis Schlafly
• Eagle Forum Dinner (also w/Phyllis Schlafly)
• Receptions, Breakfasts, Dinners hosted by Elected Officials
• Information Sessions
• And more…

A full list of these activities and events is being compiled at the Convention website – keep checking back for updates!

Interested in Becoming a National Delegate?

Important message from RPT concerning the Republican National Convention:

One of the most exciting events during our State Convention is the selection of National Delegates and Alternates to the Republican National Convention, being held this year in Tampa, FL from August 27-30. It is a great honor to be selected as a National Delegate and there will be many people competing for the 152 delegate and 152 alternate slots belonging to Texas in 2012.

If you are considering becoming a national delegate – please keep in mind that the Republican Party of Texas does not pay for the costs of delegates to the National Convention, and individual delegates and alternates will be responsible for their own travel and lodging expenses which will likely exceed $2,000 per person.

Texas delegates to the Republican National Convention are chosen in two ways – by Congressional District Caucus and At-Large by the National Nominations Committee. Three delegates and three alternates are chosen from each Congressional district, and 44 delegates and 44 alternates will be chosen at-large.

If you are interested in being chosen as an at-large national delegate, there are two ways to submit your name for consideration:

• Click here to find and download the Application for Consideration. Fill it out completely and legibly, then return it to RPT Headquarters by May 31st. Mail: 1108 Lavaca, Suite 500, Austin, TX 78701 Fax: 512-480-0709
• Testify in front of the National Nominations Committee at the State Convention on Friday, June 8th at 6:00pm or Saturday, June 9th at 10:00am. Room numbers will be announced in the official convention program. Please see RPT Rule 38 for nominating procedures.

For more information on National Delegates and the National Convention – please visit the helpful reference page on the Convention website.

Primary Election Day (Tuesday, May 29)

Early Voting – Monday, May 14, through May 25.

DENTON County Voters:

Early Voting Dates, Times, Locations

Sample Ballots (by Precinct)

Voter Registration Search to determine your precinct.

TARRANT County Voters:

Early Voting Schedule

Republican Sample Ballots

Precinct-specific Sample Ballots

Use the Voter Database Lookup to view the sample ballot(s) showing the races and candidates applicable to your voting precinct.  After searching your name, click the appropriate button(s) at the top of the screen to view your precinct’s sample ballot.

Redistricting Update XI: It Is All Up To The Courts

The fate of the redistricting maps now rests solely with the three-judge panel in San Antonio. As of the time of this update, a global agreement between all parties has not been reached relative to the Texas House and Texas Congressional districts. Therefore, the final decisions as to where the lines will be are in the hands of the three-judge panel. The panel set deadlines for parties to submit final briefs on various issues and that deadline has now passed. This now means that all the arguments are over and all we are waiting for now is for the Court to rule.

If the Court issues maps on or before March 3rd, then the May 29th primary date can be accomplished – assuming a re-opened filing period can be accomplished within a few days. If the Court issues new maps after March 3rd, then the next and final available primary date would be June 26th. To accomplish a June 26th primary, maps would still need to be issued by March 30th to meet the June 26th date.

There is a possibility that the San Antonio three-judge panel (which handles Section 2 challenges of the Voting Rights Act) will wait to see what the Washington D.C. three-judge panel (who handles Section 5 challenges of the Voting Rights Act) rules, and that subsequently, the San Antonio panel incorporates the D.C. panel’s findings into new maps. The D.C. panel indicated that it would not rule prior to March. Consequently, if the San Antonio panel is waiting on the D.C. panel, a May 29th primary could only be accomplished if the D.C. panel rules at the very start of March and the rulings can be incorporated into alterations of the maps within a few days. Otherwise, only the June 26th primary date is an option.

If the San Antonio three-judge panel does not view it as a necessity to wait on the Washington D.C. panel, then we would expect to get new maps any day now.

As instructed by the San Antonio three-judge panel last week, the RPT’s attorneys have been in contact with the Texas Democratic Party’s attorneys to negotiate over proposed deadlines relative to a May 29th Primary Election and we are proceeding to plan as if we will have a May 29th Primary. RPT will provide you notice of any rulings as soon as practical.

PROPOSED TEMPORARY AND EMERGENCY CHANGES TO RPT RULES

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

        The various orders of the federal three-judge panel in Perez v. Perry have postponed the 2012 general primary election to a date which makes it impossible for the Republican Party of Texas (RPT) to conduct the convention procedure set forth in the Texas Election Code and the Rules of the Republican Party of Texas (RPT Rules). RPT Rule 1 allows the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) to make temporary and emergency changes to the RPT Rules in the event judicial action makes the “conduct, operation, or implementation of [the] Rules … frustrated or impracticable, or contrary to their intent and purpose.” RULES OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY OF TEXAS, Rule 1(c). These changes, if approved by the SREC, will be valid until such time they are ratified by the State Convention, or until the adjournment of the State Convention, whichever comes first. Id. However, pursuant to Section 163.006, Texas Election Code, any further amendments made to these Rules made by the State Convention which govern or affect the Republican Party of Texas’ general or runoff primary elections, conventions or nominees, would not be effective until January 1, 2013.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends RPT Rule 13 to eliminate the quorum requirement to convene a County or Senatorial District Convention. Allows the maintenance of a quorum so long as the persons in attendance comprise more than fifty percent (50%) of the total voting strength of the Convention and a majority of the seated precincts are present.

SECTION 2. Strikes RPT Rule 19 and inserts a new RPT Rule 19A allowing for a Local Option Precinct Convention. A county executive committee (CEC), by two-thirds (2/3) vote may elect to hold precinct conventions in their county under the RPT Rules in effect on October 2, 2011, provided that that vote occur not later than fourteen (14) days prior to the date scheduled for county and senatorial district conventions, and further provided that the CEC publicize the local option precinct convention among all Republican voters in the county by, at a minimum, posting the date, time, and location(s) of such convention(s) on the county party’s website and email list, and providing a copy to the State Chairman for posting on the RPT website no later than seven (7) days prior to the date proposed for the local option precinct convention. If the county party has neither a website nor an email list, the CEC must publish an advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation in the county by the same deadline. Failure to comply with the notice provision precludes the county from holding a local option precinct convention. In the event a local option precinct convention is held in the county, the RPT Rules in effect on October 2, 2011 that govern precinct conventions and the selection of delegates to county and senatorial district conventions shall be used in that county instead of those Rules as amended in this amendment.

SECTION 3. Strikes RPT Rules governing the conduct of precinct conventions.

SECTION 4. Amends RPT Rule 23 to remove language relating to precinct conventions.

SECTION 5. Amends RPT Rule 23A to clarify that the 2010 General Election precincts will be used in conducting County or Senatorial District Conventions. In the event a senate district splits a 2010 precinct, the State Chairman shall provide maps and delegate allocation totals to County Chairmen for use in the convention process. Provides that if no valid districts exist for senate districts one week prior to the date for senatorial district conventions (as determined by closure of the reopened filing period) all counties shall only have county conventions and delegates/alternates from those counties to the State Convention shall be chosen in a manner that ensures geographic distribution of those delegates/alternates is roughly proportional to the geographic distribution of the votes cast for the Republican nominee in the last gubernatorial election. In this event assignment to senate and congressional districts will be made at the State Convention. Sets out a voting strength of 1 vote for every 25 votes cast for the Republican nominee in the last gubernatorial election for each precinct at the County or Senatorial District Convention regardless of the number of persons present from that precinct. Eliminates the cap on State Convention delegates and alternates, and option for CECs and Senatorial District Executive Committees (SDEC) to modify delegate allotments. Provides that delegates and alternates will be assigned to congressional districts at the State Convention

SECTION 6. Amends RPT Rule 24 to remove language relating to precinct conventions.

SECTION 7. Amends RPT Rule 25 to establish that participants in a convention must be a registered voter who has affiliated with the Republican Party. Affiliation may be accomplished by voting in the Republican General Primary or by oath. Specifies oath prescribed by Texas Election Code, and provides that the oath may be executed orally or in writing, provided however that a written record, including a person’s signature, full name, permanent address, and voter unique identification number (VUID) must be maintained of all persons executing the oath and included in the minutes of a convention. The written record shall be certified by the Permanent Chairman and Permanent Secretary of the convention and three copies prepared and delivered to the County Chairman, State Chairman and chief elections officer of the county. Additionally an electronic list of all VUIDs of participants must be sent to the State Chairman. Provides that the oath must be accompanied by a notice of criminal penalty for participating in another party’s convention or primary in the same voting year. Disqualifies a person who participates in another party’s primary or convention from serving as a delegate, alternate, party officer, or nominee of the Republican Party at any level for the remainder of the voting year. Removes language relating to precinct conventions. Requires each CEC to publicize the County or Senatorial District Convention among all Republican voters in the county by, at a minimum, posting the date, time, and location(s) of such convention(s) on the county party’s website and email list, and providing a copy to the State Chairman for posting on the RPT website no later than seven (7) days prior to the date set for the convention. If the county party has neither a website nor an email list, the CEC must publish an advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation in the county by the same deadline.

SECTION 8. Amends RPT Rule 26 to remove language relating to precinct conventions.

SECTION 9. Amends RPT Rule 27 to remove language relating to credential challenges of precinct delegates. Provides that credential challenges of county/senatorial district delegates must be made within seven (7) days of the county or senatorial district convention.

SECTION 10. Amends RPT Rule 28 to provide for county conventions in all counties in the event senatorial districts are not set, as evidenced by the close of filing for the general primary, one week prior to the date set for county or senatorial district conventions.

SECTION 11. Amends RPT Rule 29 to remove language relating to precinct conventions and delegates.

SECTION 12. Amends RPT Rule 30 to require administration of the Oath of Affiliation as the first item of business at the County or Senatorial District Convention. Requires a roll call of precincts represented. Requires the announcement of the separate and combined voting strength of each precinct. Removes the Report of the Credentials Committee as an agenda item.

SECTION 13. Amends RPT Rule 32 to require that state delegate and alternate lists include a VUID for each delegate and alternate and be submitted in electronic form to RPT.

SECTION 14. Amends RPT Rule 33 to allow electronic mailing of convention call to delegates and alternates. Requires SREC members to recommend temporary committee members and caucus chairs within 10 days of the County and Senatorial District Conventions.

SECTION 15. Amends RPT Rule 38 to provide that withdrawn or deceased presidential candidates votes be deemed votes for uncommitted delegates and alternates; deletes language relating to replacement of delegates of withdrawn or deceased presidential candidates. Deletes language relating to assignment of uncommitted and committed delegates and alternates at State Convention. Requires the State Chairman, upon the SREC’s canvass of the presidential primary, to assign delegates in proportion to the statewide presidential vote. Clarifies that RNC members are uncommitted delegates. Provides for announcement of vote at national convention on a directly proportional basis related to the statewide presidential vote, with no poll taken of members for announcement of the vote. Allows for replacement of vacant delegate and alternate positions by the Chairman of the National Nominations Committee of the State Convention. Requires that delegates and alternates affiliate with the Republican Party by oath or voting in the Republican Primary

I continue to listen to lots of discussions on these changes -and am willing to answer questions.

Thanks, again, for your patience as we work through this process.

Many of you have called or phoned — mostly because of rumors floating around
about the necessary rules change to our Convention Process.

An SREC colleague has spoken out of turn and published some misinformation
– costing most of the SREC extra hours in answering questions and
quelling anxiety from our constituents.

Please be cautious in reacting to what you read or hear
– and doubly so in forwarding information.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Latest communication to the SREC and County Chairs from Beth Cubriel,
RPT Organizational Director:

Last Wednesday, Chairman Munisteri was notified by the three judge panel in San Antonio that we will have to find a new way of electing delegates and hosting our convention process during this election cycle, as we still do not have a date for our primary election to serve as an anchor for our delegate selection process.

The following day (Thursday), Steve had a conference call with the Officials Committee of the SREC to discuss options that might be available to our party, given the challenges presented.  Chairman Munisteri believes that they arrived at a workable, although not ideal, resolution to the problem and on Friday presented the proposed solution by conference call to the SREC.  He would now like the opportunity to share that plan directly with our county chairs, who will be most directly involved in the process of hosting county and senatorial district conventions.

Eric Opiela, Assistant General Counsel, is working on the party rules changes, with input from Rules Committee Chairman Dan Pickens, Rules Committee member Clint Moore and National Committee member and RNC General Counsel Bill Crocker, that will need to be adopted at an emergency meeting of the SREC, scheduled for next Wednesday, February 29th.

In the meantime, the proposal does call for County/ SD conventions on either April 14^th or 21^st, as determined by your CEC, so please don’t cancel your facilities.

NOTE;  Your State Republican Executive Committee and your County Chair have a copy of the proposed rules and are reviewing them. There is much to study and ponder, and perhaps amend. Nothing is determined until we have reviewed — and then the SREC will vote next Wednesday (February 29) in Austin.

Thank you for your courtesy and patience as we work through this mess.
I will be happy to try to answer any questions. I am, after all,
your representative on the State Republican Executive Committee.

Jean McIver

If you’ve somehow just tuned in and are wondering what’s happening,
you can catch up with the updates on this blog or on the
Redistricting Updates on the Republican Party of Texas’ website.

We are working hard at the Republican Party of Texas to figure out the
best way to proceed, with the very real likelihood we will not have a
Primary before our State Convention.  The Primary date is not set in
stone as of yet, so be advised that it will in all likelihood not occur
until the week before, or even after our State Convention.

      

You can read all the latest Texas Redistricting news here. 

The agreement that appears to be in the making between the court, the Democrats and Republicans about the maps is not final.

Advisory to all party activists – If the Primary is pushed back further, the RPT will still seek
court relief to allow district conventions to go forward on the dates county Republican parties already have scheduled, but with the different delegate selection process. County Chairs are urged not to cancel district conventions scheduled for either April 14 or 21.

AP – Noon
SAN ANTONIO—The Texas attorney general and minority groups demanding equal representation have agreed to a temporary compromise over one of the state’s three disputed political maps.

During a federal court hearing Wednesday in San Antonio, the state attorney general and an attorney for the minority groups said they had reached a deal on the state Senate map. The parties still haven’t worked out a deal for state House and congressional maps, leaving the Texas primary date uncertain.

The Republican-controlled Legislature drew the disputed Senate map in a way to make sure one incumbent was not re-elected.

It also divided up minority voters into districts dominated by whites, something forbidden under the Voting Rights Act.

Republican Party of Texas – reporting on Valentine’s Day, February 14th:

Today in San Antonio, the three-judge panel began a full day of hearing final arguments in the Texas redistricting case, which affects the scheduling of the state primary and state convention. We can report that the Court appears to be backing off of its stated intention to have a unified April Primary Election. This comes after assorted county election officials stepped forward to testify that it would be impossible to hold a unified April Primary Election – even if they had maps today.

Although the Republican Party of Texas had Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart appear before the panel to testify that an April 24th primary election is still doable, our sense is the Court now believes that April is no longer viable for a single unified primary. From the Court’s questioning, it seemed that at least one judge and possibly two would prefer to go ahead with a Presidential primary and statewide races in April and the other races at a date to be determined in the future. How the extra primary election would be funded appears problematic at this time. We won’t know until the Court rules whether these conclusions are correct. Our best estimate right now is that there will be a single unified primary on May 29th, absent the state coming up with funds for a split primary.

Because the Texas Democratic Party’s lawyers backed up Chairman Munisteri’s testimony at the hearing that it is practically not possible to move the State Conventions at this late date, one thing we know for sure (and the Court is aware of this fact), is that you can’t schedule the primary after the State Conventions unless (as the Democratic lawyer stated) the State Parties can find a field somewhere to hold their conventions and if we could guarantee good weather.

Chairman Munisteri testified to the Court that it would be impossible to select delegates in accordance with the process prescribed in the Election Code, if the primary was not held until May 29th and the state convention began on June 7th. However, the Court signaled that it would be open to judicial relief to allow the State Parties to select their delegates in a way that didn’t require precinct conventions to be tied to the primary. The Texas Democratic Party lawyer went a step further and argued that even though the Election Code prescribes the process, that it is their position that the Election Code is unenforceable because the political parties are private organizations and thus they could change their rules without a court order. The RPT believes it would be risky to do so and prefers the route of obtaining judicial permission prior to such action. In the event the Court schedules a May primary, Chairman Munisteri plans to schedule an emergency teleconference with all SREC members and Republican County Chairs to discuss alternative processes for picking State Convention delegates, in the hopes of coming to a consensus as to what to suggest to the court for relief.

The court also heard presentations from several plaintiffs and the State of Texas as to their position relative to how maps should be drawn. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court directed the three-judge panel to issue new maps that were neither the legislative-drawn lines, nor the subsequent lines issued by the San Antonio three-judge panel in November. In issuing that directive, the Supreme Court set forth the criteria by which lines could be altered. Specifically, the Supreme Court said that if the San Antonio panel found there was a “not insubstantial” chance of violation of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, that lines could be altered to comply with Section 5. A Washington, D.C. three-judge federal panel has had a trial on Section 5 so as to make a final determination as to violations, but the Supreme Court indicated that the San Antonio three-judge federal panel should issue interim maps which correct any deficiencies in districts in which the “not insubstantial” standard was met. Moreover, the San Antonio three-judge panel has jurisdiction over Section 2 violations of the Voting Rights Act and the Supreme Court indicated that if there were violations of this provision, that lines could be altered as well.

In recent orders, the San Antonio three-judge panel had directed the plaintiffs and the State of Texas (representing the legislative maps) to see if they could agree which districts fell under these criteria and suggest fixes. Last week, the Attorney General put forth a proposed set of maps which addressed potentially problematic districts while at the same time, tried to stay as close to the original legislative maps as possible. Some of the plaintiffs’ groups agreed to some of the proposed lines. The hearing today flushed out the differences, with each party stating their differences and arguments thereof. The Attorney General’s proposals put forth what it believes are 50 Texas State House districts which have an opportunity for minorities to elect their candidates of choice – a number which meets the benchmark (2010) plan’s number of 50 such districts. Some of the plaintiffs’ groups however, want 51 or more of these districts, and a much larger number of “coalition” districts, which would likely elect Democrats, but would not have a majority of their citizen voting age population be comprised of a single minority group. Another group of plaintiffs which opposes the suggested lines put forth by the Attorney General, was arguing for 67 majority-minority districts in the State House. In effect, their proposed maps would substantially reduce the number of Republican legislators.

The Latino Redistricting Task Force, which represents a number of the Latino groups, has indicated that they would not object to much of the proposed map, but they disagree over House District 144 (currently represented by Representative Ken Legler). The Attorney General’s map draws that district with 48% registered voters with Spanish surnames. The Latino Redistricting Task Force would not accept any lines for HD 144 that do not have at least 50% of registration of Spanish surnames. That particular plaintiffs’ group was also willing to accept the proposed Congressional maps which would split the four new Congressional districts into lines which would result in two new Republican districts – an improvement over the three-judge panel’s maps but which is down one from the maps originally drawn by the Legislature. Many of the other plaintiffs’ groups opposed the proposed Congressional map and wanted at least one more Democratic Congressional district in addition to the two new Democratic districts contained in the Attorney General’s map. Congressman Joe Barton has intervened, and is arguing for one more Republican district.

The State Senate map has really only one district in dispute – that being Senate District 10, the district held by State Senator Wendy Davis. Apparently the Attorney General and the plaintiff Democrats are not that far apart in respect to their proposals. Under virtually every anticipated scenario, at the very least that senate district would be winnable by a Republican candidate. The final battle over the lines will determine whether it is a toss-up district, or one where the Republicans will have a slight advantage.

To complicate things further, the Department of Justice sent a lawyer who argued that there were five Texas House districts on the previously-drawn legislative map, which the Department of Justice is insisting be changed because of violations to the Voting Rights Act. The DOJ lawyer also stated emphatically that the federal court panel has limited authority to alter deadlines that were controlled by federal statute.

At this time, it seems more likely than not, that all the parties will not come to an agreement on the Congressional and Texas House maps. Therefore, we are assuming that once the hearing is concluded tomorrow (Wednesday, Feb. 15) that the final map lines will be decided by the three-judge panel as opposed to the parties in the lawsuit. To add another wrinkle, one of the judges suggested that if the primary will have to be delayed until May anyway – that the San Antonio three-judge panel may delay their decision for at least a while to see if they get a ruling out of the Washington D.C. three-judge panel regarding potential Section 5 violations so that they can incorporate the decision into their deliberations.

After attending in full and testifying at the hearing, Chairman Munisteri issued the following statement – “It is the Republican Party of Texas’ position that a single unified primary is still possible for April. If the Court delays the primary further, it will be a great disappointment to Republicans who wish to have early participation in the Presidential primary process. I would like to applaud the work of General Abbott’s Deputy Attorney General for Defense Litigation, David Mattax, who I thought did an excellent job refuting the Democrats’ contention that Republicans intentionally discriminated against minorities, as well as providing excellent rebuttal district by district to the plaintiffs’ attorneys contention that more districts needed to have their lines altered with the intent of creating additional Democratic districts.”

The hearing will continue tomorrow, but is expected to conclude by 2:30pm. We should know tomorrow for certain, whether we have a split primary or a unified primary. We should also know whether April is definitely out. We hopefully will have some guidance as to what flexibility the parties will have in altering the delegate selection process. We will provide a further report after tomorrow’s hearing.

The compromise restores the district largely to its previous boundaries with a similar racial make-up.

“It is the Court’s desire to have redistricting plans in place for an April Primary”

The San Antonio three-judge panel issued an order late Friday, saying they want to set
an April primary and want negotiations to resume before the hearings that begin next
Tuesday, February 14th .

[Wait, isn't that Valentine's Day?  I'm stocking up on chocolates and standing by for updates!]

Here’s the court’s order:

As the parties know, the Court will hold a hearing on this matter on Tuesday, February 14, 2012, and quite possibly Wednesday, February 15, 2012. Contrary to any misconceptions, neither the State’s recent compromise proposal nor any of the parties’ proposals have been rejected at this juncture. It is the Court’s desire to have redistricting plans in place for an April primary and all parties must continue their negotiations to assist the Court in accomplishing that task. If the parties have ceased negotiations, they should resume with all due effort between now and the time of the hearing. In their negotiations, the parties should be reminded of the dictates of the Supreme Court by which this Court will  be bound, which include the rather flexible standards of review that may be applied on one hand and the restrictive language regarding the creation of new coalition districts on the other hand. Should the parties fail to reach an agreement prior to the hearing, the parties will be expected to resume negotiations at the courthouse upon conclusion of the hearing. The panel will accomodate the parties in what ever way necessary, and all necessary parties are expected to have a person with binding settlement authority either in attendance or available by telephone.

The Republican Party of Texas provides further clarification:

The Court also clarified some misconceptions that have appeared on blogs and among the media – specifically, reports which have stated that the Court had rejected Attorney General Greg Abbott’s proposed maps earlier this week. The order clearly states that the panel has not rejected any maps. The Court also noted that final interim maps would be drawn in accordance with the Supreme Court’s recent ruling – “…which include the rather flexible standards of review that may be applied on one hand and the restrictive language regarding the creation of new coalition districts on the other hand.” The RPT interprets this to mean that the Court is signaling to both the State of Texas (represented by General Abbott) and the various plaintiffs’ groups, that it may be in the best interests of both sides to reach an agreement since utilizing these criteria would mean that probably neither side would get completely what it wanted anyway.

The “flexible standards” referenced by the Court, indicates that they still have the ability to alter the legislative maps and still comply with the Supreme Court ruling (which is to the Democrats’ advantage). On the other hand, the Court notes that the Supreme Court struck down the Democratic proposition that new coalition minority districts should be created (which favors the legislature’s version of the maps). The Court issued additional orders requiring all sides to continue negotiations and to be prepared to discuss them at the hearing in San Antonio on February 14th and 15th.

Advisory from RPT to all Republican county chairmen, precinct chairmen, and party activists:

As the Party believes that this order increases the likelihood of a primary in April (probably in mid to late April) we urge everyone to continue to make preliminary plans for a primary around April 17th. The odds of this happening will become much clearer by mid-week.

Read the report from Ross Ramsey at The Texas Tribune here.

Late yesterday, the Republican Party of Texas sent the following update:

AUSTIN – On Monday afternoon, Attorney General Greg Abbott announced an agreement with some of the plaintiffs to the Texas redistricting lawsuit. In a released statement on Monday, the Attorney General indicated support from a significant number of plaintiffs’ groups, including: Texas LULAC, MALDEF, GI Forum, The Mexican American Bar Association of Texas, La Fe Policy Research and Education Center, Hispanics Organized for Political Education (HOPE), the National Organization for Mexican American Rights, Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, the William C. Velasquez Institute, Southwest Workers’ Union, and other plaintiffs collectively known as the ‘Texas Latino Redistricting Task Force.’ With respect to the U.S. Congress, the Attorney General was also able to reach an agreement with Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar.

The Attorney General has posted the proposed maps online which are agreed to by these plaintiffs. The Republican Party of Texas has been closely analyzing these proposed lines. If the court agrees to enact these interim maps, the proposal should enable the Republican Party to have an excellent chance at preserving all of the Congressional seats we won in 2010, and would also provide a very strong chance at picking up an additional couple of Congressional seats from the four Texas has gained through reapportionment. This is an improvement over the maps originally issued by the San Antonio three-judge panel. Under those maps, there was a possibility that the Republican Party would not win any of the new four seats, and Republicans also faced a possibility of losing one or two of our existing incumbents.

In regards to proposed maps for the Texas House of Representatives, the proposal preserves the ability of the Republican Party to achieve a solid majority in that body. RPT staff has analyzed the maps over the past few hours and believe that there will be 96 State House districts with an average GOP vote of 50% or better (using vote totals for the 2008 Presidential Election.) Thus, the new proposed maps represent an improvement over the court-issued maps, with fewer Republican seats at risk than the lines drawn by the San Antonio three-judge panel last year.

On the State Senate side, there is really only one district in dispute – that being SD 10 with Democratic Senator Wendy Davis. A trial is already scheduled this week on that district, so hopefully the court will be in a position to issue a ruling early next week and issue a new State Senate map in time for there to be a single unified primary in April.

While these are only proposed maps at the present time, the filing of them greatly increases the chances that there will still be a single unified primary in mid-April. It is the Republican Party of Texas’ position that even if maps are not agreed to by all parties, that the Court now has sufficient information as to the  respective positions of all parties so as to allow the Court to issue final maps in time for a single unified primary in mid-April. The RPT filed an advisory this morning to this effect, a copy of which is linked here.

Republican Party of Texas Chairman Steve Munisteri issued the following statement, relative to these developments. ‘I believe these lines are a substantial improvement overall when compared to the maps initially released by the San Antonio three-judge panel overseeing redistricting. These proposed maps do have some substantial differences from the originally drawn legislative maps. The unanimous Supreme Court ruling in January stated that the legislative maps (prior to preclearance) and the San Antonio three-judge panel maps were both unable to be used in the 2012 Texas primary, but the Supreme Court also said that the legislative maps needed to be a starting point. As the Attorney General announced today, this agreement complies with the Supreme Court’s criteria, while at the same time preserving the opportunity for Republicans to make gains in the Congressional delegation and to preserve our solid majority in the State Legislature.’

Munisteri continued, ‘I am hopeful that the San Antonio three-judge panel will rule in a timely fashion on these new proposed maps, so that our candidates can have certainty and so that we can move forward with a unified primary. I am particularly hopeful that we can still have a Presidential primary prior to any candidates obtaining a majority of delegates necessary for nomination, and that Texas can still have a significant voice in the Republican Presidential primary process.’

Advisory to all Republican county chairmen, precinct chairmen, and party activists -

It appears as though today’s [Monday's] developments make it unlikely that there will be an April 3rd Primary. However, it is increasingly likely that there will be a single unified primary in mid-April. If the three-judge panel acts swiftly on these new proposed maps, it is still possible for an April unified primary to occur. Therefore, we recommend you still make preliminary preparations for a primary sometime in the second or third week of April. We still cannot definitively tell you when the primary will occur, but we expect there to be additional announcements within the next week, so please be on the lookout for additional emails and leadership advisories.

Remember that little game we played at birthday parties?
You’re seated on the floor in a circle, and the birthday girl holds a ball of string.
She starts a story, unwinding the string until the knot, then passes the ball of string along
to the next one in the circle, who adds a sentence or two, and the ball of string
and the story continue. By the time the string and the story get back to the birthday girl,
the story and the ball of string are nothing like the original!
Maybe you’ve received one of those tangled tales in an email recently …

The redistricting story is a tangled mess, but it’s important to keep to the facts.

Here’s the latest update on redistricting from The Republican Party of Texas.

The Republican Party of Texas has received numerous emails and calls over the last few days inquiring about the status of the redistricting lawsuit. It has become apparent as a result of these questions, that many of our Republican activists are confused as to what issues are actually before the San Antonio three-judge panel, what the Supreme Court decision actually meant for the process, and what the role of RPT is in this process.

This confusion was heightened by a wholly inaccurate story in “The Hill” (a DC publication), which was then reinterpreted and disseminated through email chains this weekend. This particular article and the emails spreading it, stated that the Republican Party of Texas was in the process of negotiating trading Congressional districts in return for (among other things) saving a convention deposit. These false reports were sent out despite the fact that the Party has sent out regular updates on exactly what was occurring … [read more]

[Bottom line: We will know if we can have an April 3rd primary by the end of the day on February 6th at the very latest.]