Latina members of Congress include,
among others, longtime representative
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Cuban American
from Miami, a Republican; Puerto Rican
Nydia Velázquez, a Democrat from New
York, and two Mexican-American sisters,
Loretta and Linda Sanchez, both from
Southern California. In addition,
Hispanic-American civic leaders serve in
many other capacities, such as Dennis
Rivera, a New York City labor leader of
Puerto Rican ancestry, and Antonio
Gonzalez, president of the Southwest
Voter Registration Education Project
(SVREP), which since its founding in 1974
has been active in registering Latinos and
encouraging them to vote.The Texas Redistricting
ControversyIn addition to the level of voter participa-
tion in congressional elections, another
factor that influences national election
results is the ethnic make-up of state
congressional districts. Beginning in
2002, this issue came to a head in Texas,
as Republican party leaders worked toremap congressional district in the state
to favor their party. In 2002, Republicans
won control of the Texas state legislature
for the first time in 130 years, and imme-
diately set about trying to redraw Texas
congressional districts to favor Re-
publican candidates for Congress. To
support their argument, Republicans
argued that the way districts were drawn
for the 2002 election unfairly led to a
Democratic 17-15 edge in House seats
representing Texas, even though Texans
had voted statewide for Republicans by
an by an 18-14 margin. After a long par-
tisan struggle, the Republican-controlled
legislature enacted a new congressional
districting map, Plan 1374C. In the 2004
congressional elections, the impact of
the new map was felt as Republicans
won 21 seats to the Democrats’ 11. In
2006 Republicans won 19 seats, and
Democrats won 13.
The Texas redistricting was extreme-
ly controversial, particularly because of
the role played by Republican majority
leader Tom DeLay, who had made it
clear that his goal was to establish a per-
manent Republican majority in the Texas
Congressional delegation.232 ATLAS OF HISPANIC-AMERICAN HISTORY
LubbockMISSOURIFort WorthFort Worth DallasDallasSan AntonioBrownsvilleAmarilloLubbockMidland AbileneAustinWacoHoustonEl PasoMcAllenLaredoNEW MEXICOOKLAHOMAMISSOURIARKANSASLOUISIANAMEXICOLubbock
Fort Worth DallasMISSOURISan AntonioMidlandAustinSan AntonioBrownsvilleAmarilloLubbockMidland AbileneAustinWacoHoustonEl PasoFort Worth DallasMcAllenLaredoNEW MEXICOOKLAHOMAMISSOURIARKANSASLOUISIANAMEXICOHispanic
Black2001–2003 Districts
Hispanic
BlackCurrent DistrictsDistrict 23 District 23Redistricting in Texas, 2001–2006