Texas House approves redistricting maps
AUSTIN — The Texas House approved voting maps on Thursday, but the redistricting chairman surprised many lawmakers by accepting tiny changes to a handful of districts and angering members of both parties.
The so-called tweaks to House district maps also broke with Gov. Rick Perry's call for the special legislative session by varying from the court-drawn maps used in the 2012 election. The House must still give final passage to the bills on Friday.
Democratic Rep. Rafael Anchia and Republican Rep. Bennett Ratliff changed the border between their Dallas-area districts to move only two precincts that contained voters. One of the precincts included the home of Ratliff's tea party rival, Matt Rinaldi, prompting Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Frisco, to call Ratliff a "big liar" when coming out of a closed-door Republican meeting about the change.
"The Ratliff amendment that was accepted was to draw myself, a potential challenger, out of his district," Rinaldi told The Associated Press.
More at http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/state-politics/20130620-texas-house-approves-redistricting-maps.ece .
