The Fort Bend County Citizens Redistricting Advisory Committee met Sept. 29 to discuss 13 maps, advancing five to be reviewed by Commissioners Court. Each committee member was given the opportunity to submit a map, CRAC Chairman Jacob Lee previously said in an email.
Zooming in
The top map, drawn by Lee, represents how people vote across the county. The map has three safe precincts—one Republican and two Democratic—with Precinct 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers’ district projected 53.54% red, below the 10% margin needed to be considered safe.
The map keeps all elected officials except Precinct 3 Constable Ali Sheikhani within their districts.
“It will be one of the least expensive maps for the Commissioners Court to consider,” Lee said.
Another map drawn by Meyers' appointee Mike Gibson and amended by Lee finished in second place in voting. The map sees the same three safe precincts, with Meyers’ district projected at 53.61% red.
Lee said the map adds developable land to three commissioners and keeps the Austin Point project in Precinct 2 Commissioner Grady Prestage’s hands.
Additional maps that will move on include:
- An alteration by Meyers' nominee Upendra Sahu to Lee’s original “How People Vote” map, which has two safe Democrat precincts, one safe Republican precinct and Precinct 3 sitting at 52.84% Republican
- Two maps drawn by Precinct 1 Commissioner Vincent Morales' nominees Wendy Duncan and Ryan Yokubaitis, one of which the pair withdrew during discussion, because there were not enough Republicans in Precinct 3
Despite their best efforts, drawing “pretty” maps with both parties in mind was not easy, Duncan and County Judge KP George’s nominee, Ethan Kasmir, said.
“I think we could draw prettier maps if we did not have to consider a variety of factors that are very important, like where electeds live [and] population,” Duncan said.
Although Fort Bend County is a swing county, it is still possible to draw seats in a partisan manner, Prestage's appointee and former Precinct 1 Commissioner Richard Morrison said, referencing redrawing of congressional districts at the state level earlier this year.
“I did not wear my hypocrisy boots today,” Morrison said. “Why don’t we drop the hypocrisy and just say the person in power gets to do what they want? ... This is a political process.”
What’s next?
Commissioners are set to review the five maps at their next meeting, currently scheduled for Oct. 9, Lee said.
“What we are doing is giving a recommendation of the maps that we prefer, but they’re open to consider anything that’s been submitted to the website, all the comments, everything is up for their consideration,” Lee said.
