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  • I think that it’s now safe to say that we Texans now live in a failed state.  30 years of GOP rule, setting our own standard, living the “Texas Dream,” which they’ve bragged about relentlessly…and let’s see where we are:

    A majority of the state in complete failure, unable to deliver the most BASIC of services (things that are called “utilities,” not “luxuries,” for a reason).  No power.  No water.  No means of clearing roads (that one, I can’t fault the state so much….but it wouldn’t be as big a crisis if people weren’t stuck in their homes with no power and water).  So citizens are stuck in their homes, some of them dying there. 

    Water resource planning?  After pretending for decades that a drought would never happen again, and not doing ANYTHING to develop resources in the state water plan (a document actually developed using science and mathematical projections), we had several locations, including actual cities, down to a few days of water supply.  We’ve finally gotten on our horse a bit, but it may be too late if the next drought comes anytime soon.  

    State rank in key categories:

    Education – 34

    Health Care - 37

    Infrastructure - 33

    Opportunity - 39

    Environment - 44

    Infrastructure - 33 

    In overall quality of life ranking by US News, we are now #38, down from #36 just two years ago.  At that rate, we’ll be in the bottom 3 within ten years.

    We are SUPER independent, and FUCK the feds….but we have requested federal disaster assistance more than any other state in the past decade or so.

    But hey, our economy is ranked #15!

    That’s right, we have a “roaring economy” and the “Texas Miracle!”  But we can’t deliver the basics for our citizens.  The economy is VERY efficient at funneling bazillions to the very few…..with little of it “trickling down” to most Texans.  Yeah, the people on this board generally do fine, but face the facts – we’re the top 10% or so.  We are educated, older, and fortunate.

    Our federal system allows for state-by-state experiments.  Texas is the poster child for near anarcho-capitalism and zero regulation or oversight.  We have tested that approach, for over a generation now (30 years of Republican rule).  That approach is a failure.  The evidence is undeniable, and overwhelming.  It doesn’t matter how many River Oaks millionaires you produce if the rest of your people are dying in their homes.  Shit, some of those River Oaks millionaires might be freezing to death today, too.

    The kids of a middle class family can hardly afford to go to a good state school.  Their prospects for employment are mediocre.  Their prospects of suffering crippling medical debt at some point are significant.  Their chances of not having basic utilities needed for life safety at some point – all but certain.  Their chances of becoming ill or dying from a pollution-caused illness are material.

    What’s the result?  Our leaders have sold Texas as a paradise – move here!  Bring your business here!  And some businesses have done so, adding opportunity…..but providing little to no tax support for the infrastructure we all depend on.  To the contrary, over the past few years, I know more and more people – educated people, people who can do their jobs elsewhere, who are looking to bail on this state.  It’s people with young kids, who want them to grow up in a better place.  It’s people in their working years, who simply want a better path.  It’s retirees, who want a safe and secure place to live.

    We have consumed our seed stock.  We have burned through our reserves.  We are now consuming ourselves.  The ability to pitch Texas as the land of opportunity is done.  Seeing what we have become, the tentative thought/plan my wife and I had of wrapping up our careers here and then getting the hell out of Dodge is becoming much more concrete.  My children are already unlikely to make their future in this state.  Now we are, too.

    But the response from the Republican leadership and their sycophants – “how are you gonna pay for it?  Taxes?  That’s socialism!  You want that stuff, you have to pay for it!”

    Fuck yes I do, and I’m okay with that.  I want groceries…so I have to pay HEB.  I want a car…so I have to pay Ford.  I want clothes…..so I have to pay Dillards.  I want my population educated….so I have to pay the school district.  I want electricity, with enough capacity to keep us running when we need it…..so I have to pay my bill, maybe with a capacity surcharge.  I want water to come out of the taps….so I have to pay for development of resources and maintenance of infrastructure.  I want roads….so I pay taxes to build and maintain them.  YES, I have to pay for all of those things, and “nothing is free” – no fucking shit.  So, let’s pay for it.  We have the #15 economy….we HAVE the funds in this state.  An economy with the flow of funds that ours has can produce and maintain all of those results.  But we have chosen a different path; funnel all the dollars to the top, and spend next to nothing for the public good.  We have privatized profit….we have socialized the costs.  And we are dying because of it.

    My fellow Texans are dying in their homes….and there’s nothing I can do about it today.  And I am enraged.

    I love Texas.  I am 6th generation here.  My ancestors have Texas historical markers on their graves.  We helped make this state, and this state helped make us.  It educated us (back when college was affordable).  But it’s time to face the fact – this state is a failure, and on its current path, with its current leadership and philosophy, it will only get worse.  This state has a terrible future, unless we dramatically change our path.   Chances of that happening?  0.0% -- because we’ll continue to vote for the guys who make our leadership priorities bathroom bills, and transgender sports, and requiring the national anthem be played at certain events.  Any bill that has been proposed to improve emergency preparedness of gov’t entities has been crushed by the Republicans controlling the lege….but we will definitely stick with those guys.  No taxes.  No government functionality.

    What we are seeing happening right now is our system working EXACTLY AS IT WAS DESIGNED AND INTENDED TO WORK.  And we will, I guarantee it, collectively decide to stick with that.  This state is in free-fall, and anyone with eyes can see it.  And anyone with a brain is starting to think of ways to make their life elsewhere.  It breaks my goddamned heart to see us commit collective suicide, but here we are.

     

     


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    StassneyHorn

    Posted

    On 8/13/2025 at 1:35 PM, Captainant said:

    what is it with chuds telling people to "cope" or "cry harder" and whatnot? Saw it a ton yesterday from imma's buddy stassney and it's like they're spiking the football on being a shithead. Really strange antisocial stuff.

    You saw it once from me recently, and you yourself have used the phrase over the years. The search function does work.

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    Evil Bill Obrien

    Posted

    2 hours ago, HornOnTheBayou said:

     

    They don't get called gravy seals for nothing...

    image.png.03a596376e8704d6245cf70eeeb7032f.png

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    South Austin

    Posted

    I really can't blame the Democrats for coming back to Texas.  I mean, it's almost football season. 

    • Like 1
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    Nivek

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

    The Texas Dems on the run accomplished their goal: attention to what Abbott is doing. They were never going to be successful forever. Allowing Abbott to do this quiet would have been the sin.

    By creating attention to Abbott steal, this gives the Dems cover to repeat this in other states. Yes it's a race to the bottom but Dems need to stop being the party who plays fair. If the GOP wants to ultimately destroy the US, then so be it.

    They should have stayed away.   Bringing attention to this unconstitutional bullshit isn't enough.   

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    Ghost of NMAS

    Posted

    We needed the confrontation over Abbott trying to replace them.

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    fuggled

    Posted

    https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/26/texas-schools-commandments-requirement-lawsuit/

    Quote

    A Texas federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked from taking full effect a new state law requiring public schools to display donated posters of the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

    The ruling only applies to the nearly a dozen Texas school districts named in the lawsuit, though attorneys who brought forth the case expressed hope in court that other districts would not implement a law that a federal judge has now found unconstitutional.

    In his decision, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery concluded that the law favors Christianity over other faiths, is not neutral with respect to religion and is likely to interfere with families' “exercise of their sincere religious or nonreligious beliefs in substantial ways.”

    “There are ways in which students could be taught any relevant history of the Ten Commandments without the state selecting an official version of scripture, approving it in state law, and then displaying it in every classroom on a permanent basis,” Biery wrote in his opinion, adding that the law “crosses the line from exposure to coercion.”

     

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    Biff Tannen

    Posted

    15 hours ago, Evil Bill Obrien said:

    They don't get called gravy seals for nothing...

    image.png.03a596376e8704d6245cf70eeeb7032f.png

     

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    Horn Dog

    Posted (edited)

    1 hour ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

    The Texas Dems on the run accomplished their goal: attention to what Abbott is doing. They were never going to be successful forever. Allowing Abbott to do this quiet would have been the sin.

    By creating attention to Abbott steal, this gives the Dems cover to repeat this in other states. Yes it's a race to the bottom but Dems need to stop being the party who plays fair. If the GOP wants to ultimately destroy the US, then so be it.

    Exactly.  The dems did what they could do with the very limited power the shitty people of the state of Texas have provided them.  This shit show is on the voters of Texas who blindly reward incompetence and corruption.   The dems accomplished their mission.  Attention has been drawn.  Now they need to let it happen so that Cali can do their thing.  Staying away and stalling Texas from doing  what they are going to do anyway (with no time limit) only provides ammunition to those trying to delay Cali from passing their resolution.  That resolution needs to be passed ASAP in order to allow it on the ballot in Nov. 

    Edited by Horn Dog
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    Fudge Nuggets

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Nivek said:

    They should have stayed away.   Bringing attention to this unconstitutional bullshit isn't enough.   

    I'm with you.  They ran away a couple of years ago over something or other.  That did so much good I can't even remember what the issue was.

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    Fudge Nuggets

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Horn Dog said:

    Exactly.  The dems did what they could do with the very limited power the shitty people of the state of Texas have provided them.  This shit show is on the voters of Texas who blindly reward incompetence and corruption.   The dems accomplished their mission.  Attention has been drawn.  Now they need to let it happen so that Cali can do their thing.  Staying away and stalling Texas from doing  what they are going to do anyway (with no time limit) only provides ammunition to those trying to delay Cali from passing their resolution.  That resolution needs to be passed ASAP in order to allow it on the ballot in Nov. 

    A week from now, no one outside of BlueSky nerds and other political Twitter adjacent groups will remember it.  Then when CA tries it, the right wing propaganda network will fire up and claim Newsom is doing it unilaterally and has no justification.

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    Horn Dog

    Posted

    34 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

    A week from now, no one outside of BlueSky nerds and other political Twitter adjacent groups will remember it.  Then when CA tries it, the right wing propaganda network will fire up and claim Newsom is doing it unilaterally and has no justification.

    True but at least it will be easy to refute if Texas passes this first.   The alternative is this, which despite the "trigger clause" (that 95% of voters won't know about or understand) will be the narrative:

    FOX NEWS:  "This just in,  the LIBERAL dems are at it again!   In California, dems are illegally FORCING the voters to choose a extreme partisan gerrymandered map ahead of the midterm in a unprecedented move..  Meanwhile poor Gov. Abbott in  Texas is just trying to counter them and FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE, but that too is being stopped by the LIBERALS with their ILLEGAL walkout!    First they stonewalled the release of the Epstein files, now they are illegally trying to STEAL votes from republicans in California and all the while preventing dully elected Texas representative from countering this ILLEGAL redistricting scheme!"

     

    And guess what....it will work.

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    Beantown Express 2.0

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

    A week from now, no one outside of BlueSky nerds and other political Twitter adjacent groups will remember it.  Then when CA tries it, the right wing propaganda network will fire up and claim Newsom is doing it unilaterally and has no justification.

     

    1 hour ago, Horn Dog said:

    True but at least it will be easy to refute if Texas passes this first.   The alternative is this, which despite the "trigger clause" (that 95% of voters won't know about or understand) will be the narrative:

    FOX NEWS:  "This just in,  the LIBERAL dems are at it again!   In California, dems are illegally FORCING the voters to choose a extreme partisan gerrymandered map ahead of the midterm in a unprecedented move..  Meanwhile poor Gov. Abbott in  Texas is just trying to counter them and FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE, but that too is being stopped by the LIBERALS with their ILLEGAL walkout!    First they stonewalled the release of the Epstein files, now they are illegally trying to STEAL votes from republicans in California and all the while preventing dully elected Texas representative from countering this ILLEGAL redistricting scheme!"

     

    And guess what....it will work.

    You are both being so silly.  We all know this will go to the Supreme Court where they will rule in a 5-3 decision that any state that gerrymanders their districts in favor of more Republican seats is legal and any state that does the same for Democrat seats is illegal.  A few people on CNN and MSNBC will scream how horrible this is for a few days and then they will move on to the next thing Trump does like claim that all votes in all states for any Democrat are invalid and only votes for Republican candidates will officially be counted.  

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    Horn Dog

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

     

    You are both being so silly.  We all know this will go to the Supreme Court where they will rule in a 5-3 decision that any state that gerrymanders their districts in favor of more Republican seats is legal and any state that does the same for Democrat seats is illegal.  A few people on CNN and MSNBC will scream how horrible this is for a few days and then they will move on to the next thing Trump does like claim that all votes in all states for any Democrat are invalid and only votes for Republican candidates will officially be counted.  

    Wait 5-3?? Which conservative judge is about to die??

    IMG_1238.gif.bda70afa1bc76d0af61480e42c65d9b4.gif

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    Beantown Express 2.0

    Posted

    5 minutes ago, Horn Dog said:

    Wait 5-3?? Which conservative judge is about to die??

    IMG_1238.gif.bda70afa1bc76d0af61480e42c65d9b4.gif

    oops.  How does 6-3 sound.

    The Hot Dog Buffet

    Posted

    What's stopping these dems from loading up in a white Ford Bronco the day the vote is supposed to happen and leading their escorts on a low speed chase until they run out of gas somewhere in Oklahoma?

    tigol

    Posted

    5 minutes ago, The Hot Dog Buffet said:

    What's stopping these dems from loading up in a white Ford Bronco the day the vote is supposed to happen and leading their escorts on a low speed chase until they run out of gas somewhere in Oklahoma?

    Good grief, why do you hate them?  At least NM has recreational weed.

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    Satchel

    Posted

    The Democrats are not responsible for the sad state of affairs in Texas. Voters along with the 40% of registered Texans who did not vote in the last election are.

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    Satchel

    Posted

    Rep. Perez, in very stark terms, put it where the goats can get it:

    https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2025/08/07/528214/latino-black-voters-are-big-losers-from-proposed-texas-redistricting-map-house-democratic-deputy-whip-says/

    State Rep. Vince Perez (D-El Paso), the House Democrats' deputy whip, disputes the Republican argument. He noted there are about 11 million white residents in Texas. Latino residents passed that number within the last few years. Yet congressional districts where whites can elect their candidates of choice far outnumber those where Latinos and/or Blacks can do likewise.

    "If I’m telling you that there’s 26 seats and there are 11 million white residents, that breaks down to 430,000 white residents per congressional seat," Perez said. "So, what does it take for Latinos? Well, there’s one congressional seat for every 1.2 million Latinos, and there’s one Black seat for every 2 million Black voters. That’s why the value of a Latino resident in Texas is one-third of the political power of that that a white resident in Texas delivers, and again, for Black residents in Texas, it’s one-fifth."

    RELATED: As Texas pursues mid-decade congressional redistricting, some members of Congress aim to ban the practice

    By Perez's analysis, the proposed map would help Republicans to elect representatives on behalf of 90% of all white voters in the state of Texas.

    "We have never seen a map so racially discriminatory in Texas since the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965," Perez said. "What will be the implications of a government not being held accountable to all of its residents but almost exclusively to one race?"

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    troph

    Posted

    7 minutes ago, Satchel said:

    Rep. Perez, in very stark terms, put it where the goats can get it:

    https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2025/08/07/528214/latino-black-voters-are-big-losers-from-proposed-texas-redistricting-map-house-democratic-deputy-whip-says/

     

    State Rep. Vince Perez (D-El Paso), the House Democrats' deputy whip, disputes the Republican argument. He noted there are about 11 million white residents in Texas. Latino residents passed that number within the last few years. Yet congressional districts where whites can elect their candidates of choice far outnumber those where Latinos and/or Blacks can do likewise.

    "If I’m telling you that there’s 26 seats and there are 11 million white residents, that breaks down to 430,000 white residents per congressional seat," Perez said. "So, what does it take for Latinos? Well, there’s one congressional seat for every 1.2 million Latinos, and there’s one Black seat for every 2 million Black voters. That’s why the value of a Latino resident in Texas is one-third of the political power of that that a white resident in Texas delivers, and again, for Black residents in Texas, it’s one-fifth."

    RELATED: As Texas pursues mid-decade congressional redistricting, some members of Congress aim to ban the practice

    By Perez's analysis, the proposed map would help Republicans to elect representatives on behalf of 90% of all white voters in the state of Texas.

    "We have never seen a map so racially discriminatory in Texas since the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965," Perez said. "What will be the implications of a government not being held accountable to all of its residents but almost exclusively to one race?"

    If I could sacrifice my own life with the simple guarantee that this alone would change forever, I would. It wouldn’t even be a difficult choice. I’m so fucking mad about all this shit right now.

    Fudge Nuggets

    Posted

    8 minutes ago, Satchel said:

    Rep. Perez, in very stark terms, put it where the goats can get it:

    https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2025/08/07/528214/latino-black-voters-are-big-losers-from-proposed-texas-redistricting-map-house-democratic-deputy-whip-says/

     

    State Rep. Vince Perez (D-El Paso), the House Democrats' deputy whip, disputes the Republican argument. He noted there are about 11 million white residents in Texas. Latino residents passed that number within the last few years. Yet congressional districts where whites can elect their candidates of choice far outnumber those where Latinos and/or Blacks can do likewise.

    "If I’m telling you that there’s 26 seats and there are 11 million white residents, that breaks down to 430,000 white residents per congressional seat," Perez said. "So, what does it take for Latinos? Well, there’s one congressional seat for every 1.2 million Latinos, and there’s one Black seat for every 2 million Black voters. That’s why the value of a Latino resident in Texas is one-third of the political power of that that a white resident in Texas delivers, and again, for Black residents in Texas, it’s one-fifth."

    RELATED: As Texas pursues mid-decade congressional redistricting, some members of Congress aim to ban the practice

    By Perez's analysis, the proposed map would help Republicans to elect representatives on behalf of 90% of all white voters in the state of Texas.

    "We have never seen a map so racially discriminatory in Texas since the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965," Perez said. "What will be the implications of a government not being held accountable to all of its residents but almost exclusively to one race?"

    Based on recent Latino voting trends, this will soon be in the leopards thread.

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    The Ace of Aces

    Posted

    Who can/should I send money to. I want to support a Texas democrat  

    tigol

    Posted

    Who can/should I send money to. I want to support a Texas democrat  

    AOC is the only person I would send money to at this point if I was just itching to waste my time.
    South Austin

    Posted

    48 minutes ago, The Ace of Aces said:

    Who can/should I send money to. I want to support a Texas democrat  

    Every once in a while I also like to withdraw a couple hundred bucks and then light it on fire.

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    The Ace of Aces

    Posted

    25 minutes ago, SubliminalHorn said:

    You can send it to me. I’m a Texan that votes democrat

    You raise a good point - no D in Texas will have any power as long as we live so why even waste a cent on the party there. 

    Nivek

    Posted

    Jasmine Crockett.  

     

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    Fudge Nuggets

    Posted

    1 hour ago, The Ace of Aces said:

    You raise a good point - no D in Texas will have any power as long as we live so why even waste a cent on the party there. 

    Now you get it.

    RomaVicta

    Posted

    Support someone wry and amusing. We'll get a few laughs on the way down and leave great quotes for future historians.

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    Macanudo

    Posted

    12 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

    Support someone wry and amusing. We'll get a few laughs on the way down and leave great quotes for future historians.

    NowThis isn't walking through that door any time soon.

    Longhorn_Fan68

    Posted

    scotus gonna let all these maps through? gonna be hilarious when it all backfires

    • Haha 1
    Mo Horn

    Posted

    3 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

    scotus gonna let all these maps through? gonna be hilarious when it all backfires

    image.gif.72446fa3ea77608013e07c16b76a8268.gif

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    Captainant

    Posted

    6 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

    scotus gonna let all these maps through? gonna be hilarious when it all backfires

    roberts gutted the voting rights act precisely so these maps could become reality

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    HenryJames

    Posted

    Yeah, this is the culmination of Roberts' legal career.

    • Like 1
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    Longhorn_Fan68

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Mo Horn said:

    image.gif.72446fa3ea77608013e07c16b76a8268.gif

     

    1 hour ago, Captainant said:

    roberts gutted the voting rights act precisely so these maps could become reality

     

    44 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

    Yeah, this is the culmination of Roberts' legal career.

    oh, I'm aware. but now that the blue states are doing the same shit, will they let them all through? or just the red ones? we shall see.

    Captainant

    Posted

    9 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

    oh, I'm aware. but now that the blue states are doing the same shit, will they let them all through? or just the red ones? we shall see.

    “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.”

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    South Austin

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

    scotus gonna let all these maps through? 

    spacer.png

    tx 3 putt

    Posted

    get out the vote 

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    Gap03

    Posted

    I know facts are hard and analysis of facts is even harder for the average American, but I find the Princeton Gerrymander Project, Brennan Center and PlanScore analyses incredibly helpful in understanding the realities around gerrymandering in the U.S.  

    https://gerrymander.princeton.edu/redistricting-report-card

    https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/how-gerrymandering-tilts-2024-race-house

    https://planscore.org/library/

    While Republicans continue to cry about "the Dems starting it", if you check out the maps you'll see that on the Republican side, Florida, Texas, Ohio, Wisconsin and North Carolina are all gerrymandered to fuck and back.  By contrast, if you look at Dem gerrymanders, the only state that is really offensive is Illinois.  The reality is that the other states that Abbott and co. cry about (California, New York and Massachusetts) just have partisan voter distributions such that most districts are consistent with the statewide partisan leans (unlike Texas, where you have to split every city 5 ways and combine them with huge chunks of rural wastelands to get so many R districts).  

     

     

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