In Our View | Figurin' and Finaglin' Texas lawmakers gather today to begin battle over voting districts

Today, members of the Texas Legislature gather for a 30-day special session dedicated to that time-honored tradition: Gerrymandering.

Yes, lawmakers will be redrawing state House and Senate districts lines, as well as those for the state Board of Education and U.S. congressional districts.

Ideally, they use data from the latest U.S. Census to make sure all Texans receive fair representation. In truth, though, the party in power - the Republicans in this case - does whatever it can get away with to draw the districts to their advantage in upcoming elections.

The other side - Democrats, in case you've forgotten - does whatever it can to salvage something out of the redistricting. And eventually the whole thing ends in up court.

What's especially interesting this time around is that over the past decade since the last census, Texas' population has grown. But 95% of that growth has come from people of color, primarily new Hispanic residents.

Texas Republicans see those new residents as more likely to vote Democratic. So the challenge will be to maintain an advantage without running too far afoul of what the courts might see as discrimination.

We have no doubt GOP lawmakers are up to the challenge, though. They're a pretty crafty bunch.

The way demographics are changing, this may well be the last time Texas Republicans have the chance to ensure their advantage over the following decade. But you can bet they'll make the most of it before the Democrats get their turn.

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