A recently released draft plan of redistricted congressional maps shows a major shake-up in Lake Highlands’ representation in Washington D.C.
Lake Highlands area elementary schools serve as polling places in local, state and national elections
Texas last redistricted in 2021 following a COVID-related delay in the release of U.S. Census data. Congressional redistricting was added to the Texas Legislature’s special session agenda by Gov. Greg Abbott earlier this month.
As reported by the Texas Tribune, the rare mid-decade redistricting push is largely seen as a move to shore up Republican strongholds in the state and potentially flip five Democratic seats ahead of midterm elections in 2026. On July 15, President Donald Trump echoed the need to gain five Republican seats in the Texas delegation as part of redistricting.
A map of the proposed congressional districts can be found here.
Under the Texas House of Representatives draft plan released Wednesday morning, Democratic Rep. Julie Johnson’s District 32 would be stretched to include conservative areas of Far North Dallas, Collin County and several rural counties in East Texas, creating a difficult path to reelection for the one-term incumbent. Johnson replaced Colin Allred in the 2024 special election. The district currently covers Vickery Meadow, Highland Meadows, Skillman-Audelia and the Forest Lane Corridor, with only the Forest Lane area remaining in the district under the new plan.
GOP Representative Beth Van Duyne’s District 24 would completely exclude Lake Highlands, the core of which she currently represents under the 2021 map. In her place, an even larger portion of the neighborhood (everything south of Royal Lane and east of U.S. 75), would be represented by Republican Representative Lance Gooden under the plan as part of a reorganized District 5, which would also include Lakewood, Mesquite and Rockwall, in addition to neighboring rural counties like Kaufman, Van Zandt, Henderson and Anderson.
Earlier this week, there were protests against the proposed changes at the University of Texas at Arlington, as reported by our KERA partners.
The plan was introduced by state Rep. Todd Hunter, with a public hearing scheduled for Aug. 1.
