Virgin Of Guadalupe Usurped By Our Lady Of Perpetual Redistricting

You might call this one “Virgin of Guadalupe vs. Our Lady Of Perpetual Redistricting.” Or, just call it Rick Perry being out of touch with (or deliberately inconsiderate of) Latino voters.

In Congressional District 23, Perry has set the runoff between Congressman Henry Bonilla (R-San Antonio) and former Congressman Ciro Rodriguez (D-San Antonio) for December 12. That date happens to also be the date of the Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe, patron saint of Mexico and Latin America. Given that CD 23 is a predominantly Latino district (and one where the Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe is celebrated with great fervor, no less) this poses a problem.

It poses such a problem, in fact, that LULAC has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to intervene and order the state to set a different election date. LULAC asks that the date be set for December 19, arguing that the date benefits Bonilla and disenfranchises Hispanic voters. Given that Bonilla is an Hispanic himself, that may seem odd until you consider that Hispanic support for the GOP’s lone Latino Congressman has been dwindling for several election cycles, even in his old district.
This also shows exactly how important the Voting Rights Act and its various provisions are to Texas. Texas is one of several states subject to preclearance requirements that several Texas Congressmen (Carter, Gohmert, etc.) tried to do away with this past summer when the VRA came up for renewal.

Were it not for the preclearance requirement, there would be little anyone could do about such an asinine election date for this district.

The state, however, claims it doesn’t need preclearance to set the election date because the court order by the three-judge panel that heard the redistricting remedy case ordered that the date set for the election be the earliest possible date.

It would stand to reason, however, that the “earlies possible election date,” wouldn’t be simply the earlies possible calender election date but rather the earliest possible election date that doesn’t interfere with holidays. While the Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe is not per se a legal holiday, its observance is so widespread and traditional within the confines of CD 23 that it is equivelant to holding an election on Rosh Hashana in a district that is predominantly Jewish.

The outcome remains to be seen. Obviously, if the DOJ ignores the pleas of LULAC, court action is possible (likely, in my estimation). So, the election date could be delayed even farther than December 19 if court actionsand appeals are required to make a determination in this race.

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