According to the drafters of the Texas congressional map, the map was not final. It is apparently going to undergo some changes. Well, as of today a new map - very similar to Solomons-Seliger - was released from the office of State Sen. Seliger. I won't be dissecting this map in its entirety, as that would just be a rerun of my previous diary. Instead, I'll detail the changes from that version to this version. Given the speed at which things are changing with this map, this probably won't be the last officially sanctioned proposal nor the map which ultimately gets passed. The map is located here as "Plan C130". The previous iteration was "Plan C125".
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Nothing changes in Dallas-Fort Worth. The panhandle remains the same and so does the rural northeast.
Houston to Beaumont is where the action is. The new 36th is transformed from that hideous arch-like creature into a Chambers County to Orange County COI district. Much better. Still safe for their team though. As a consequence the 2nd shifts to take up where the 36th left in Houston. No change in partisanship really - the Hispanics there don't vote en masse. The 8th, then, has to take the area in the top of the arch. No difference either. The WONDERFUL consequence of this, though, is that Ron Paul can now be defeated. The 14th takes in all of Beaumont county (which Obama won), keeps Galveston (Democratic area), and barely takes in some of the virulently red suburbs (and loses virulently red Chambers County). McCain still would have won this district, but it is trending our way and Paul just might be too extreme against a good recruit (I.E. St. Rep. Craig Eiland of Galveston).
The changes in Central Texas aren't drastic. They change the way they split Travis County (presumably in their favor and to Doggett's detriment) and the configuration of the prairie to the southeast (perhaps meant to give Farenthold an even better edge... not that he needs it).
In summary, this map is just slightly better for us because of the weakening of Ron Paul (who would still win in a neutral year).