By ROBERT T. GARRETT / The Dallas Morning News
ELECTIONS '06
AUSTIN – Democrats came out winners in a court decision on redistricting that was handed down Friday.
U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-San Antonio, now must run in his hometown's heavily Democratic south side. Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Austin keeps his Democratic base in Travis County, while Laredo Democrat Henry Cuellar received a district more anchored in his native Rio Grande Valley.
The ruling by a three-judge federal panel doesn't guarantee that Democrats, badly outnumbered in the state's congressional delegation by Republicans, will pick up seats this fall. However, combined with the mounting problems of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay – thwarted by another set of judges who refused this week to allow Republicans to replace him on the ballot – the redrawn map gives Democrats an unexpected boost.
"Democrats might pick up a seat or two in Texas and cut into the Republicans' 21-11 advantage," said Ed Sills of the Texas AFL-CIO, which generally backs Democrats. Democrats need 15 seats nationally to regain the House. Even before this week, they were talking up their chances of gaining up to a dozen.
Democratic consultant Matt Angle said changes to the state's congressional map by three federal judges show how far overboard the GOP-controlled Legislature went when it redrew lines in 2003.
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