10.05.10
Interesting juxtaposition
It seems wrong that as much as the GOP bashes immigrants and Latinos that they will actually be helping out the GOP quite a bit in the South, GOP poised to gain clout in South due to surging Latino population.
When Hispanics vote, most choose Democrats: In 2008, two out of three Latinos voted for Barack Obama over John McCain for president. And a Pew Hispanic Center survey released today finds that 65% plan to vote Democratic this November.
But the rapid growth of Latinos in Southern states will likely have the paradoxical effect of strengthening the political clout of Republicans over the next decade, as GOP-controlled state legislatures redraw state and Congressional political lines after the 2010 Census.
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Each of the Southern states — Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Texas — can at least partially thank their burgeoning and Democratic-leaning Latino communities for their growing political clout. But in each of the states, decisions about redrawing Congressional lines are made in the state legislature — which are currently controlled by Republicans, a situation unlikely to change in this GOP-trending year.
That means the lines for all four fast-growing states will be shaped for at least a decade according to the partisan interests of Republicans, despite the source of rising clout. Here’s a chart showing how this will likely break down in 2011 and beyond:
Texas will gain 4 Congressional seats because of it’s growth.