Pick a Map, Any Map

This or something like it: The Central Texas congressional maps getting redrawn in San Antonio again today

Ya gotta love Twitter: Especially as a journalist who could not make it to today's redistricting hearings in San Antonio, it has been an invaluable tool for catching the high to-and-fro.

The only actual decision today was a late-breaking move to adapt the #tx3step as the "official" hash tag of the hearing. What's clear is that all the parties are getting very concerned about how the lack of a clear map means there is no clear date for the primaries.

Enter MCPLi aka redistricting guru Michael Li of the TXRedistricting.org blog. His Tweets have been avidly followed throughout the redistricting process, and today's hearing has been no exception. Here's the boildown: Neither party wants a split primary, as it would be cripplingly expensive for the county parties to reschedule their conventions (which they may not be able to do anyway.) The state doesn't want to have to pay for two primaries either, and may not have the money to do so either.

The upshot? Unless they move fast, the already rescheduled April 3 date for the primaries may have already been shot, with April 17, May 29 and June 26 all being thrown out there. If they go with June, then the House, Texas Senate and Congressional primaries will actually take place after the party state conventions (yeah, no chance that will turn what is supposed to be a healing exercise into a series of grandstanding election stunts, is there?)

Attorneys for both sides are mulling spending the entire weekend thrashing out as much of a consensus interim map as possible, then coming back early next week to let the court handle everything else. If the parties can agree maps, then the state may well not stand in the way.

Of course, Texans would not be in this situation if the state had not challenged the interim maps: A point that is not wasted on the panel itself. As Deece Eckstein Tweeted:

State wants S.A. court to adopt an interim map even if "imperfect." Judge Rodriguez: then why did State challenge earlier maps?

Yeowch.