Denton County Redistricting Proposals Meet Opposition

By Justin Grass, Denton Record-Chronicle Staff Writer
Originally Published on Denton Record-Chronicle

Denton County officials expect to have revised county redistricting maps later this week after residents and area mayors told commissioners they oppose the first version of the proposed new precinct maps.

According to the Texas Secretary of State, counties are required to have two of three maps — one for commissioner precincts and one for justice of the peace and constable precincts — approved by Nov. 13, the first day candidates can file for a place on the general primary election ballot. The map for voter precincts can be approved as late as Dec. 30.

Only two county meetings fall between the proposal going public and the deadline, which has led some residents to criticize officials for starting the process so late. But commissioners have maintained the timeline was pushed back due to the late release of census data and waiting for the state’s maps. Elections Administrator Frank Phillips said the department got preliminary numbers in August and downloadable numbers for their system last month.

Phillips said the county’s elections staff uses software called Esri Redistricting to help draw its maps, which can be done in an expedited timeframe.

“That redistricting tool allows us to import the census data and then draw any kind of maps we want on the fly,” Phillips said. “I know some counties started a little earlier. They were working on, in my mind, more preliminary maps.”

Shortened timeline and all, a handful of residents and two local mayors spoke on the topic Tuesday. Many focused on the proposed changes to Precinct 2, the most politically competitive of the four precincts. Those changes would see commissioner Ron Marchant’s precinct lose voters west of Carrollton and northwest of Frisco, although it would absorb Precinct 1’s Corinth, Shady Shores, Oak Point and Lakewood Village.

Two mayors — Dena Meek of Oak Point and Mark Vargus of Lakewood Village — lobbied commissioners against moving their neighboring municipalities out of Precinct 1. Other speakers said the changes to Precinct 2 could jeopardize the representation of minorities and make it easier for Republicans to win the southeast precinct next year.

“It essentially eliminates the possibility that any [precinct] will be politically competitive outside of the political ruling party or its current incumbents for the next decade,” Denton County Democratic Party representative Mary Infante said. “We need to give everybody a fair chance to run for office.”

Infante said the shifts don’t reflect the county’s stated goal of “minor modifications.” Party chair Delia Parker-Mims has publicly accused commissioners of gerrymandering the map to ensure Republican control of Precinct 2, which was decided by less than 500 votes when Marchant was re-elected in 2018. Infante and Joanna Cattanach, co-chairs of the party’s redistricting committee, submitted alternate maps at the meeting.

A demographic comparison shows Precinct 2 currently sits at a 42.9% white population, the lowest of the four. Under the new map, that would increase to 47.4%. The precinct’s Hispanic population would increase slightly to 22.6%; its Black population would decrease by about 2% to 13.2%; and its Asian population would drop to 13.3%, a decrease of over 3%.

Phillips said the county focuses on population numbers firstly, which are in dire need of updates. Precinct 1 has swelled to 283,994 residents, 25.3% higher than the target of 226,606 (about one-fourth of the county’s entire population). Precinct 3 is at 182,886, 19.3% lower than that target. The maximum difference legally allowed for any one precinct is 10% above or below the target.

“Our starting point is to start dragging precincts around until we can get our population numbers where they should be, and start taking input from there,” Phillips said. “It’s harder than it looks to just start picking up population without blowing things totally out of whack.”

For Precinct 2 specifically, Phillips said staff could either have pushed it up toward Frisco or across the lake toward Corinth — the chosen option — to gain population. Under the new map, the precinct would jump from 219,035 residents (3.3% under target) to 236,368 (4.3% above). It would have the highest difference from target of any precinct due to the county accounting for growth over the next 10 years, he said.

“This is never a fun process, because it doesn’t matter what you do, it invites criticism from someone,” Phillips said. “The word ‘gerrymander’ is thrown around a lot these days, typically by those who don’t like the map you draw, and that’s fair enough. That’s someone’s opinion, and that’s fine. … At the end of the day, I’m confident that any finalized map we come up with will be a good reflection of what we were asked to do.”

Marchant said he wasn’t involved in drawing the proposed map but thinks it’s a fair way of adding population to his precinct and will well represent any incoming communities.

“You have to understand what the challenges are in my precinct,” Marchant said. “I’m pretty well landlocked in that I can’t go to the east, I can’t go to the south, and if I go the west I may be intruding too much into Precinct 3.”

As for accusations of unfairness or gerrymandering, Marchant said the process is complicated and that “irregular” lines or population fluctuations don’t mean the county is trying to influence elections.

“[The map] can’t be four different squares or rectangles that you follow,” Marchant said. “Precinct 2 is very diverse, not only politically but ethnically, and once you start adding more population, then you may either boost those numbers or dilute those numbers.”

Following Tuesday’s lengthy executive session, commissioners took no formal action regarding redistricting. County communications director Dawn Cobb said they discussed the input with attorneys and anticipate revised maps to be released Thursday.