LULAC sues Houston, challenging 'gross underrepresentation' of Latinos at City Council

The League of United Latin American Citizens on Monday filed its long-anticipated lawsuit against the city of Houston, seeking to get rid of at-large City Council seats it says leave Hispanic residents with insufficient representation at City Hall. The group, one of the largest Hispanic civil rights organizations in the country, first announced plans to take legal action against the city in January. While 45 percent of Houston residents are Hispanic, Robert Gallegos of District I is the only Hispanic person holding a seat on the 16-member body, even though the city previously created two other Hispanic-opportunity districts, H and J.

The federal lawsuit aims to replace the city’s five at-large seats, which represent voters citywide, with single-member seats dedicated to certain geographic areas. Houston’s current election system has created barriers to Hispanic representation and deprived hundreds of thousands of minority Houstonians of their voting rights guaranteed by law, the complaint says. “The Latino voters of Houston have waited for fair redistricting plans. They have waited for years for the city of Houston to end its long relationship with 'at-large' districts that dilute the electoral strength of Hispanics,” the lawsuit says. “The time has come to replace this old election system that functions solely to dilute the power of Houston’s Latino voters.” In October, City Council approved a redistricting plan for the 2023 elections. The updated maps feature modest adjustments affecting parts of downtown, Braeburn, Greater Inwood and a few areas in southeast Houston. Sergio Lira, a Houston-based leader with LULAC, previously told the Chronicle he was disappointed in the lack of major changes in the new maps, saying, “it's going to take a lawsuit in order to change the system.” In a statement issued by his office, City Attorney Arturo Michel defended the existing council structure, as well as the new redistricting maps.