Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas went on yet another rant during a House Oversight Committee hearing on the 2020 Census, where she took aim at Texas’ redistricting process, making racially charged claims about the state’s population growth and congressional representation.
During the hearing, Crockett confronted Census Bureau Director Robert L. Santos about the racial composition of the new residents in Texas, which saw a population increase of 4 million people. Crockett’s comments were heavily focused on the perceived racial discrepancy in the redistricting process, which she argued failed to appropriately reflect the demographic changes, particularly in terms of the black, Hispanic, and Asian populations in the state.
“I want to make sure that we really get to the nitty-gritty on Texas, because this is — this is hilarious to me,” Crockett said, before asking Santos to guess how many of the 4 million new Texans were white. Santos assumed the majority, to which Crockett responded: “180,000, that’s it. Of 4 million, 95 percent of the people that were added were people of color.”
She went on to argue that Texas’ redistricting process then resulted in the creation of two new white Republican seats, while the state’s minority communities saw no increase in representation. In her words: “Somehow the way that they do their Republican math in the state of Texas, that amounted to 2 new white seats. We got two new Republican seats out of 4 million people of color.”
Crockett’s assertion that 95% of Texas’ population increase was people of color, while statistically plausible given the state’s growing Latino and Asian communities, doesn’t fully acknowledge the complexity of their population growth. The Latino population—currently the largest ethnic group in the state—is diverse and not monolithic in political affiliation. Crockett’s blanket assumption that these new residents would actually prefer Democratic representation overlooks the fact that Latinos are almost split in half in which political party they align with, with Texas in particular seeing substantial shifts toward Republican candidates in recent elections in primarily Hispanic counties — many of whom voted for Donald Trump in 2024.
Similarly, Crockett’s implication fails to account for the contemporary political landscape, where many voters from these groups may still align with Republican candidates due to issues like the economy and immigration policy.
This is part of a broader pattern exhibited by Crockett, often using hearings to create racially charged spectacles, regardless of the relevance to the matter at hand.
In a hearing earlier this year on broadband access, after cutting off Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr mid explanation, she said, “This election is the best example of why y’all are so afraid of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Because then you can’t have a simpleminded, underqualified white man somehow end up ascending. Instead, you’ve got to pay attention to the qualified black woman that is on the other side, and with that I will yield.”
READ NEXT: Rep. Jasmine Crockett Rants About Oppression, White Men
I have a proposal for drawing Texas congressional districts I GUARANTEE she will hate, precisely because it would be impossible to claim Gerrymandering.
Texas currently has 38 seats in the United States House of Representatives. I break that down to a 6 x 6 grid with 2 additional seats.
Draw a horizontal line across the bottom of a Texas map, and adjust it vertically until the 2/38ths of the population is below the line. Divide that section by a vertical line adjusted horizontally to split it into 2 districts with 1/38th of the state population each.
Next, draw a 6 x 6 grid over the remainder of the state. Adjust the vertical lines horizontally to create 6 sections each containing 6/38ths of the state population.
Finally, adjust the horizontal lines in each of the 6 sections individually to create districts with 1/38th of the state population.
This creates 38 districts of equal population, with ZERO political manipulation.
Minor tweaking would adapt the plan for any number of districts required.