Rodney Ellis: Gerrymandering could oust Galveston’s only Black county commissioner

Leaders in Galveston are taking power away from people of color through a blatantly unfair redistricting plan targeting the only Black Galveston County commissioner. We need federal intervention. As the only Black county commissioner serving in Harris County, and immediate past president and current board member of the National Organization of Black County Officials, I know that fair and reflective representation at the local level is key to ensuring that every community is seen, heard and served. Local government plays a crucial role in ensuring equitable access to health care, disaster aid, fair housing and more. This holds true for neighboring Galveston County, which, according to the U.S. Census, is 45% people of color and at risk of losing this critical representation as result of a 2021 redistricting effort that clearly targets Precinct 3. This richly diverse precinct is the only seat held by a person of color, Commissioner Stephen D. Holmes, who has served on the Commissioners Court since 1999.

This discriminatory power grab dilutes Black and brown voting power by distributing those constituencies among all the other precincts, essentially denying them the representation they deserve and likely ensuring that Galveston County Commissioners Court will not reflect nearly half of its population. This undermines the pivotal role that fair representation plays in local government. It is a betrayal of the sacrifice of our forebears who fought, bled and died for equal representation and the freedom to vote. Most concerning, it’s part of an ongoing attack on our democracy. Ever since the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in its 2013 Shelby decision, many state legislatures have led an escalating assault on the right to vote, aiming their cannons at a rising electorate that is more diverse than ever before. Losing critical protections like preclearance under the Voting Rights Act has opened the door to discriminatory redistricting, restrictive voting laws and subverted elections. This is evident in the Galveston County gerrymander and the recent wave of anti-voting bills that swept state legislatures across the nation.