Ben Cannatti, RSLC Political Director co-authors the first RSLC State Race Spotlight on Townhall.com:

Every decade the U.S. Congress plays musical chairs to the tune of the Census population counts – only in this re-apportionment version, the number of chairs stays the same, they just move to different states. By the time the counting (but not the arguing) is done in 2011, Texas looks to gain at least 3 additional seats in its Congressional delegation, thanks to strong population growth that has held up even as the recession has slowed growth in other formerly booming states. While Texas’ population growth seems to be concentrated in areas that tend to support Republicans, as pointed out by Josh Goodman at Governing.com, it’s how the district lines are drawn that ultimately determines the partisan composition of the new districts.

In the Texas statehouse, the stakes are even higher, as the district boundaries will shift to reflect the growth at the suburban edges of Texas’ major cities. This will not be a quiet debate, as several rural incumbents could find themselves in a showdown with another incumbent for a consolidated district, while incumbents in the booming areas could find themselves living outside of their districts.

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