Chet Edwards For Congress

June 29, 2006
Editorial: Glad 17th District remains unchanged

Bryan-College Station Eagle
Eagle Editorial |

No doubt most Texans greeted Wednesday's redistricting ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court with a sigh of relief. While we might question the ruling that Legislatures are free to redistrict any time they wish, at least most of us won't have to deal with the mess of changing district boundary lines this close to the Nov. 7 general election. Such changes required by the high court will be a nightmare for the counties that were ordered by the court to redistrict to reflect minority representation.

We are particularly glad because we like the 17th Congressional District we were put in by the Legislature two years ago. While it would be nice if Bryan and College Station were at the center of a district, we share much in common with the rest of the 17th District as drawn. The two population centers - Bryan-College Station and Waco - both are somewhat comparable in size and both have major universities and active junior colleges. We share a Central Texas common bond that was lacking for the two years we were in John Carter's 31st Congressional District based in the suburbs north of Austin.

In addition, we have been served well by U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, who is a frequent visitor to Brazos County and has championed everything from research at Texas A&M to badly needed highway improvements.

We hope that the Legislature doesn't take advantage of its new authority to redistrict the state as often as it desires. The chaos wrought by the redistricting two years ago is an example of what happens when lawmakers redistrict for political reasons. Repeated redistricting between the census required every 10 years would throw people into turmoil and would make it virtually impossible for representatives to get to know their constituents.

Of course, it is impossible to take politics out of the redistricting process, but we urge the politicians of both parties to show restraint when they are in the majority in the Legislature.