CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Supreme Court has approved new congressional maps for Texas that will take effect for the 2026 midterm elections, changing which representative serves Corpus Christi and the surrounding area.
The new redistricting could mean residents who were previously represented by Congressman Michael Cloud may now fall under a different district, as his 27th District has shifted north. Many Corpus Christi residents will now be represented by Vicente Gonzalez's district instead.
"If you live in Corpus Christi, you can say you are now in pretty much the Vicente Gonzalez district," said Dr. Paul Gottemoller, a political science professor at Del Mar College.
States typically redraw congressional maps every 10 years as populations change, but Texas is implementing new maps mid-decade. This follows a 2003 precedent when Texas redrew maps between census cycles, and the Supreme Court ruled that states have the authority to do so.
"That set up the precedent for what's happening now," Gottemoller said.
According to Gottemoller, the timing of this redistricting, coming just after maps were redrawn in 2021, appears strategic. The goal is partisan advantage.
"The hope that the state has is that we will end up with five more republicans than what they had before because you've created what they hope are five more republican safe districts," he said.
The decision to move Nueces County into a different district is part of this strategy to strengthen certain seats.
"They figured if you add most of Nueces County, that should create enough republican votes to create a safe republican district, so that would remove him (Vicente Gonzalez) from that," Gottemoller said.
However, the professor questions whether this strategy will be effective. The new maps were based on 2024 turnout numbers, which were significantly higher than typical midterm elections. Historically, midterm elections tend to favor the party not in the White House.
Gottemoller compared the uncertainty to meeting someone new: "When you're meeting somebody for the first time on a date, you have a lot of assumptions, and you see them in a very different way than you do a year into dating them."
Beyond the immediate impact on representation, Gottemoller argues that the redistricting process affects democratic competition itself. When maps are drawn to reduce competitive races, voters lose something valuable.
"Why do we get excited about a new fast food chain? Because we have more choices in competition," he said.
With fewer competitive districts, individual voters may have less influence over their representatives.
"Therefore, the people who are running won't care as much what your individual views are because they already know they are going to win, and that is not a good thing," Gottemoller said.
Voters don't need to take any immediate action, but those wanting to check if their neighborhood falls into a different district can find mapping tools here: https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/892/districtplanrpts/pdf/SB00004S_PLANC2308.pdf
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