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We blame Californians for a lot of our new problems in Texas, but they may be a part of a recent boon for Texas: we just gained two Congressional seats.

California still has the most, but just lost one. The number of seats is allocated based on population, and since we just had the 2020 census, this is our positive result. Having two new seats grows Texas' power in making laws and dictating policy, and it also gives us 40 electoral college votes when the time to pick a president rolls back around.

We can't give California all the credit, though. Most of the population increase is from people of color, particularly Hispanic folks:

Through 2019, Hispanics had accounted for more than half of the state’s population growth since 2010, a gain of more than 2 million residents. And though it makes up a small share of the total population, estimates showed the state’s Asian population has grown the fastest since 2010. Estimates have also shown the state’s growth has been concentrated in diverse urban centers and suburban communities.

This gain in power thanks to POC should come with a promise: to better represent them. We need more POC running for and winning seats, regardless of party. And we need to ensure that POC Texans can vote as easily as their white counterparts and that their districts are drawn in an equitable way:

Decade after decade, federal courts have found that Texas lawmakers discriminated against voters of colors during their mapmaking by working to intentionally dilute the power of their votes, and their maps have regularly violated the U.S. Constitution and the federal Voting Rights Act.

That's terrible, and we can do better. The notion that POC all vote one way is just plain inaccurate, so limiting their ability to vote is paranoid, unethical, unconstitutional and makes the offending party look too weak to win a fair fight. Let's fight to make sure every Texan is represented by supporting candidates that will fight for fairness.

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