Voters in Corpus Christi say issues like drought, industrial development and community needs are all tied to whether elected leaders truly understand the neighborhoods they represent.
As early voting continues across Texas — with early voting ending Friday, May 22, and Election Day on Tuesday, May 26 — I spoke with local voters about what representation means to them and whether they feel their voices carry weight in decisions that affect their communities.
Northside resident LaMarcus Knox said major issues facing the city are directly connected to how voting maps are drawn.
"Policies will affect the community by not keeping our communities whole. That means the voting lines will separate minority communities and give us less of a voice and voting power to elect the representatives that we need," Knox said.
Knox said he wants elected leaders to better understand the concerns people living in neighborhoods like his face every day.
I reached out to Texas State Representative Todd Hunter, who supports race-neutral redistricting, for comment. As of airtime, his office had not responded.
Civil rights attorney Matt Manning offered insight into why some supporters believe race should play less of a role when drawing voting maps.
"I suspect what a lot of it is is part and parcel with the anti-DEI stuff that you're seeing just kind of across the board this notion that race should not be injected or used or leveraged as a means to give anybody a leg up," Manning said.
Manning said South Texas has shifted over the past few election cycles from leaning more Democratic to a more politically mixed region.
"Politicos are looking at South Texas to see how the trends change here," Manning said.
Both Manning and Knox said race can still influence how communities experience politics and representation.
"That's kind of tough, because race plays a very big part in everything we do," Knox said.
For Knox, it comes down to whether his community has a strong enough voice in decisions that affect them.
Early voting ends Friday, May 22. Election Day is Tuesday, May 26.
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