roanoke.com Real Politics / Preston Bryant

Preston Bryant is a Republican who has represented Lynchburg and part of Amherst County in the Virginia House of Delgates since 1996.

Fort Worth, Texas — Redistricting battles are real political knockdowns. They most always are, no matter the state.

In Virginia, we�ve had our own share of electoral map tussles, though the worst that generally happens is the out-of-power party files lawsuits and, whenever possible, appeals losses as far up the ladder as possible.

Virginia�s most recent gerrymandering brouhaha found its way up to the Virginia Supreme Court. Republicans won. Democrats lost. And there it gently ended.

In Texas, however, state politicians don�t bother limiting their redistricting battles to their own state and federal courts. No, they drag other states into their mess, too. Oklahoma. New Mexico. Washington, D.C. Heck, they even try to involve the president.

It�s hot in Texas. So much so that state pols sit in the cool indoors coming up with the most creative ways to out-maneuver each other and get a political leg up. If only they got out more, then perhaps the shenanigans wouldn�t be so outlandish and the headlines wouldn�t be what they are.

You see, state Republicans are still trying to get an Assembly-authored redistricting plan set in stone, and state Democrats are doing all they can — and then some — to prevent such a plan from passing.

A few years ago, just after the 2000 census was taken, the Texas legislature couldn�t agree on what the new congressional districts should look like and found themselves in a Mexican standoff of sorts. So the federal courts stepped in and fashioned a plan.

But this year the state GOP, with newfound power in both the state House of Representatives and Senate, decided to take another crack at producing a legislative plan, thus scrapping the one produced by the federal judges. Minority party Democrats balked.

The Texas House and Senate, like most other representative bodies, can only operate when a requisite number of its members is present. If there are fewer legislators in attendance than what�s required for a quorum, then no legislative business can proceed.

So what are the Texas Democrats doing to stymie Republicans� redistricting legislation? They head for the sandy hills — enough of them, that is, to kill a quorum.

In May, the hills they headed to were in Oklahoma. A whopping 51 House members holed up in the little Oklahoma city of Ardmore until the Assembly session ended, and then they came home. Now, Texas Republicans have called a special session and are trying to pass another bill, and this time 11 Senate Democrats have headed to the New Mexico desert — they�re roughing it in an Albuquerque hotel — to deny a quorum again.

Why are they running out of state? Well, because if they�d simply fled the Capitol but stayed in Texas, the legislature�s Republican leaders could�ve ordered the sergeant at arms to send out a posse to drag them back. By running to Oklahoma and New Mexico, they�re not only out of the majority party�s reach, but also in the protective bosom of friendly Democratic governors. (Arkansas and Louisiana, the other bordering states, have Republican governors.)

State Republicans filed suit in the Texas Supreme Court, asking the justices to order the wayward Democrats back home. The justices declined. Now, the Senate has voted, along partisan lines, of course, to implement graduated penalties on the New Mexico 11 that could amount to as much as $57,000 in fines — on each — if they hold out until the end of the special session. No word yet on whether such fines will fly.

State Democrats accuse the Republicans of doing the bidding of both U.S. Rep. Tom Delay, a tough Texas Republican who just happens to be House majority leader, and Bush political aide Karl Rove, both of whom would love to see a redrawn political map that�d produce a handful of additional Texas GOP congressmen. (Currently, Republicans have 15 of the state�s 32 congressional seats; the new plan could bump them up to 19 or 20.) Last week, the hiding senators sent a letter to Bush, who is vacationing at his Crawford ranch, asking him to call off the dogs. The White House didn�t bite, saying it�s a state matter for state pols to sort out.

Lone Star politics is rough. This saga seemingly has no end, as Republicans appear intent on calling as many special sessions as necessary to pass a new redistricting bill. Democrats appear equally stubborn, swearing to pay no fines and to stay in the hills or desert as long as necessary.

Could this happen in Virginia? Can you imagine a bunch state legislators heading to Maryland or West Virginia or Tennessee or Kentucky or — perish the thought — North Carolina to avoid doing their jobs? No, Virginians wouldn�t stand for such. Anybody fleeing to another state, well, they just might as well plan on staying for good.

For all of what sometimes appears to be rabbit-punch politics in Virginia, quite honestly, it�s our mama-taught gentility that keeps it all pretty benign. It�s also our respect for the Jeffersonian heritage that envelops Capitol Square.

Too bad Texas mamas aren�t like Virginia mamas. And too bad Jefferson didn�t live long enough to lay the foundation of Lone Star politics.

It�s good to be a Virginian.

Texas and Virginia