Redistricting Trial Day 3: Democrats’ ‘Experts’ Falter Under Cross-Examination

[Elderberry]

Texas Scorecard by Travis Morgan | October 3, 2025

Multiple map experts took the stand but faltered under the State’s cross-examination.

EL PASO—The testimony from Democrat plaintiffs’ expert witnesses in Texas’ 2025 redistricting trial has begun to unravel, as cross-examination revealed glaring flaws in their analyses and conclusions on Friday.

Plaintiffs suing over the congressional maps include the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), and the Mexican American Legislative Caucus (MALC).

David Ely, a California-based expert in demographic and map analysis, took the stand at the close of day 2 on Thursday to allege Texas lawmakers considered race while drawing new congressional districts earlier this year.

The new districts include five GOP-opportunity seats, which Republicans could pick up in the 2026 midterm elections if the map stands.

According to Ely, several of the newly drawn districts included a roughly 51 percent Hispanic or black Citizen Voting Age Population (CVAP)—a level he claimed could not have been reached without deliberate racial targeting.

Friday morning, Ely returned to the stand to face continued cross-examination. State attorneys wasted no time exposing weaknesses in his argument.

The Partisan vs. Race Distinction

One of the State’s attorneys, Will Thompson, presented a striking counterexample: a series of maps created and used by Ely himself in another case—which Ely testified were drawn “blind” to race. These “race-neutral” maps nonetheless produced districts with around 50 percent black CVAP, and one with a precisely 51 percent black CVAP, undermining two key elements of plaintiffs’ case:

•   First, that racial percentages at or near 51 percent strongly imply intentional racial gerrymandering.

•   Second, that the outcome could only be explained by conscious racial targeting.

Thompson also pressed the issue of partisan data—a factor conspicuously absent from Ely’s analysis.

While Ely accused the Legislature of “racially” designing districts, he admitted he never accounted for partisan voting behavior, even though race and partisanship often overlap in Texas.
To make their case, Plaintiffs must show that district lines correlate more closely to race than to party affiliation in order to prove unconstitutional racial gerrymandering.

More: https://texasscorecard.com/state/redistricting-trial-day-3-democrats-experts-falter-under-cross-examination/

[DefiantMassRINO]

Gerrymandering is a partisan political exercise.  Demographics are irrelevant.  What is relevant is how those people voted in previous elections.

The infamous 'Gerrymander' cartoon was published in 1813 - when the only eligible voters were "white guys".

Dems are viewing every issue through the lens of identity-polictics.  Identity-politics is blinding them from reality.

It's about the votes, stupid.

People aren't voting Dem, and the Dems can't understand why.  Because Dems view themselves as righteously infallible, the fault must lie with the everyone but themselves.

Dems are on the wrong side of immigration.  Dems do not believe in the rule of law nor equal application of the law.  Dems believe tens-of-millions illegal aliens should be exempt from American Immigration Law while not exempting American citizens from having to pay taxes.

Dems are pro-crime, pro-criminal, and pro-screwing hard working law abiding American citizens.