North Texans will have a chance to speak on plans to redraw the state’s U.S. House districts.
The Texas House’s redistricting committee will hold a public hearing at 5 p.m. July 28 at the University of Texas at Arlington.
Lawmakers are looking to change the map after President Donald Trump said he wanted to keep the Republican majority in the U.S. House. The Legislature last redistricted the state in 2021 following the 2020 U.S. census.
Gov. Greg Abbott initiated the special session to tackle a slate of issues that he picked.
Each individual’s testimony at the hearing will be restricted to two minutes per speaker. The public testimony portion of the hearing will be held to five hours in total, according to a public notice released by the committee.
If you go
What: Texas House redistricting committee public hearing
When: 5 p.m. July 28
Where: Rosebud Theater in the E.H. Hereford University Center at the University of Texas at Arlington, 300 W. First St.
If you plan to speak: All who wish to give testimony in person regarding the redistricting plan must reach out to the committee’s clerk, Edward Jaax, at 512-463-9948.
The hearing will focus on 14 of the 38 congressional districts in Texas, but speakers are allowed to focus on any region, according to the notice. Half of the 14 districts include pieces of Tarrant County.
Three state House members from Tarrant County are on the redistricting committee:
- Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth
- Rep. John McQueeney, R-Fort Worth
- Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick tapped Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, to chair the Senate’s redistricting committee. King represents large swaths of Tarrant County, including parts of Fort Worth.
Trump wants to gain five U.S. House seats in Texas.
“There could be some other states where we are gonna get another three, four or five in addition,” Trump said on July 16. “Texas would be the biggest one and that’ll be five.”
Democrats have already begun to push back against the plan, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is considering a retaliatory redistricting in the nation’s biggest blue state.
U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, said that the redistricting attempt is “a craven power grab.” The Department of Justice has called four seats held by Democrats, including Veasey’s, as illegal because they feature largely nonwhite voters, The Dallas Morning News reported.
“Let me be clear: I will not stand by while this state becomes a testing ground for Trump’s authoritarian fantasies,” Veasey said in a July 9 statement. “We will fight this assault in the courts, in the streets and at the ballot box.”
U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, R-Weatherford, did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. His district covers central Arlington and UT-Arlington.
Chris Moss is a reporting fellow for the Arlington Report. Contact him at chris.moss@fortworthreport.org.
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