Department of Justice Files Suit Against Texas

Hello, and welcome to the third edition of Waco Can’t Wait, a progressive newsletter focusing on McLennan County, Texas, and Federal politics. It has been a whirlwind of a week between campaign announcements and the Department of Justice suing Texas, and even I had a hard time keeping up with all of it. I hope y’all find this to be a helpful edition, and if so, make sure to share it with someone else who is trying to sort through all of the noise.

Also, Waco Can't Wait now has a Facebook Page! Make sure to give it a like and send an invite to anyone who might enjoy learning more about what is going on in our community, state, and elsewhere.

This last week, the Department of Justice filed suit against the State of Texas alleging racial gerrymandering in the Congressional and State House maps. The results of this litigation will have huge implications for Texas and the Country over the next decade, and it is important that we understand what is at stake. But first, let’s look at the news!

Week in review (a collection of news from Waco, Texas, and beyond)

Waco:

The Waco Economic Index continues to show steady increases in spending, low unemployment, and strong economic development.

Employment fully recovered the COVID losses in May of this year and has continued to improve since then, meaning new employment records are now being set in Waco.

On Tuesday, the Waco City Council held initial votes on the Redistricted City Council Maps. With respect to population growth over the last decade, Council Districts 3 & 5 needed to shed some voters and Districts 1, 2, & 4 needed to add new voters to balance the populations.

As far as I am concerned, this proposed map does a good job of addressing the growth in population while also preserving the demographic composition of the respective districts. Council still has to make it official with another vote, but it looks like these will be our maps for the next decade. Not bad at all.

Cedric Davis Sr. of Marlin (Falls County) has officially filed for House District 13 (which includes part of McLennan County). Davis is the current City Manager of Marlin, TX, and was also the first African-American Mayor of Balch Springs in Dallas