By Chris Hernandez
Rep. Vince Perez recently told El Paso News that Texas’s new congressional maps are “racially engineered.” He’s not wrong. That’s exactly the right argument in court, where the Voting Rights Act remains one of the few tools for fighting gerrymandering.
But here’s the catch: what works in a courtroom doesn’t work with voters. Race-based arguments simply don’t persuade the independents and moderates Democrats need if they ever hope to win purple districts—or statewide in Texas.
Recent polling proves the point. A Navigator Research survey found that independents weren’t moved by racial arguments. Instead, they were most concerned when redistricting was described as a “power grab” or as something that worsens political polarization. A YouGov poll found that 51% of independents disapprove of the Texas GOP’s new redistricting plan, compared to only 18% who approve. And nationally, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that over half of Americans see gerrymandering as a threat to democracy itself.
In other words: people already dislike gerrymandering, but not because of race. They dislike it because it feels unfair.
Republicans, meanwhile, admit openly that they drew the maps to win. It’s cynical, but it sounds practical and honest. Against that backdrop, Democrats’ race-first approach comes across as grievance instead of fairness.
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Here’s the truth: without political context, anyone looking at the new district map would say it doesn’t make sense. Districts snake across the state in bizarre shapes that divide communities and defy common logic. Compare that to the county map, which is compact and straightforward. That’s how congressional districts should look—clear, continuous, and built around recognizable boundaries like rivers, highways, and city lines.
That’s the argument Democrats are missing. Keep the race claims for the courtroom—but in the court of public opinion, lead with fairness and common sense.
Because the voters Democrats need to win over—the independents, the moderates, the unaffiliated—aren’t persuaded by lectures on racial intent. They are persuaded by arguments about fairness, integrity, and democracy. They already think the system is rigged. Show them a map that proves it.
If Democrats want to move beyond complaints and actually lead, they should put forward legislation that enforces compact, common-sense maps. The fix is straightforward: write into law measurable standards, like requiring every district to meet minimum Polsby–Popper and Reock scores—tests that show whether a district’s shape makes geometric sense. A square or a triangle passes easily. Texas’s new districts would fail. By introducing a “Compact Districts Act,” Democrats could give voters a clear choice: keep a system where politicians carve up communities for power, or adopt a fair, objective rule that ensures maps make sense. That’s a solution independents and moderates can rally behind—and one that would finally put Democrats on the side of both justice and common sense.
Chris Hernandez is a political consultant from El Paso, Texas.