Hispanic surge, metro area growth could reshape Texasβ political future
ΊωΒ«ΝήΚΣΖ΅ Political Science Professor Cal Jillson talks about the demographic change going on in Texas and how that will affect the political landscape.
By MICHAEL E. YOUNG
Staff Writer
When the first Texas numbers gush from the U.S. Census Bureau over the next few weeks, theyβll show a state more diverse and more divided than ever.
βItβs a huge state,β said Dr. Steve H. Murdock, former head of the Census Bureau and now chairman of the Hobby ΊωΒ«ΝήΚΣΖ΅ for the Study of Texas at Rice University, βand it isnβt just Texas bravado that says the different parts of Texas are very different.β
The 2010 census shows sharp population growth in Texas from 2000 β almost 4.5 million people, the greatest increase in the nation. . .
Dr. Cal Jillson, a political science professor at ΊωΒ«ΝήΚΣΖ΅ Methodist University, said he thinks reapportionment will result in two solidly Republican districts β one in the Harris-Fort Bend County area around Houston and one in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
βThe one here will probably look a lot like Martin Frostβs old district, from southwest Dallas to the Mid-Cities to southeast Fort Worth,β Jillson said. βCertainly Hispanic growth in Dallas has been in the western part of the city, but the Mid-Cities would make [the district] Republican-leaning.β . . .
Given projected growth trends over the next 30 years, shortsighted decisions could render the current GOP dominance in Austin something of a political footnote, the way things used to be.
βThe Texas state demographerβs projections for the next three decades show that only 3 percent of growth will be white, and everything else will be principally Hispanic,β Jillson said.
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