Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T05:44:06.663Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Counting Those Who Count: The Impact of Latino Population Growth on Redistricting in Southern States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2011

J. Salvador Peralta  and
George R. Larkin
J. Salvador Peralta
Affiliation:
University of West Georgia
George R. Larkin
Affiliation:
Walden University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine the potential impact of Hispanics on the electoral geography of the southern United States after the 2010 decennial census. Hispanics are the largest and fastest-growing minority group in the United States today. In addition to traditional Hispanic destinations such as Florida and Texas, many of the areas experiencing the most rapid growth in Hispanic population are southern states such as Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. Geographic information systems are used to determine where majority-minority and influential districts are likely to emerge in southern states. We argue that although the Latino population has increased significantly over the past decade, the proportion of Latinos living in southern states remains relatively low in comparison to the general population. Therefore, no new majority-minority or influence districts will emerge in Louisiana, Mississippi, or Tennessee. Majority-minority and influence districts are likely to emerge in Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia at the state and local levels, but not at the U.S. congressional level. Texas and Florida are the only southern states where new majority-minority and influence districts are likely to emerge at the U.S., state, and local levels after the 2010 decennial census.

Type
Features
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 44 , Issue 3 , July 2011 , pp. 552 - 561
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Beer v. United States. 1976. 425 U.S. 130.Google Scholar
Bullock, Charles S. III. 2010. Redistricting: The Most Political Activity in America. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Cameron, Charles, Epstein, David, and O'Halloran, Sharyn. 1996. “Do Majority-Minority Districts Maximize Substantive Black Representation in Congress?” American Political Science Review 90 (4): 794–812.Google Scholar
Canon, David T. 1999. Race, Redistricting and Representation: The Unintended Consequences of Black Majority Districts. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Canon, David T. 2008. “Renewing the Voting Rights Act: Retrogression, Influence, and the Georgia v. Ashcroft Fix.” Election Law Journal 7 (1): 3–24.Google Scholar
de la Garza, Rodolfo O., and DeSipio, Louis, eds. 2004. Muted Voices: Latinos and the 2000 Elections. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
García Bedolla, Lisa. 2009. Latino Politics. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Georgia v. Ashcroft. 2003. 539 U.S. 461.Google Scholar
Gracia, Jorge J. E. 2000. Hispanic/Latino Identity: A Philosophical Perspective. Malden, UK: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Grofman, Bernard. 2006. “Operationalizing the Section 5 Retrogression Standard of the Voting Rights Act in the Light of Georgia v. Ashcroft: Social Science Perspectives on Minority Influence, Opportunity and Control.” Election Law Journal 5 (3): 250–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lublin, David. 1999. The Paradox of Representation: Racial Gerrymandering and Minority Interests in Congress. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Massey, Douglas S. 2010. New Faces in New Places: The Changing Geography of American Immigration. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Millard, Ann V., and Chapa, Jorge. 2004. Apple Pie and Enchiladas: Latino Newcomers in the Rural Midwest. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
National Conference of State Legislatures. 2010. Immigration Project. http://www.ncsl.org/programs/immig.Google Scholar
Odem, Mary E., and Lacy, Elaine, eds. 2009. Latino Immigrants and the Transformation of the U.S. South. Athens: University of Georgia Press.Google Scholar
Passel, Jeffrey S., and Cohn, D'Vera. 2010. Unauthorized Immigrant Population: National and State Trends. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center.Google Scholar
Persily, Nathaniel. 2006. “Options and Strategies for Renewal of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.” In The Future of the Voting Rights Act, ed. Epstein, David L., Pildes, Richard H., de la Garza, Rodolfo O., and O'Halloran, Sharyn, 235–36. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Ramos, Jorge. 2005. The Latino Wave: How Hispanics Are Transforming Politics in America. New York: Harper Collins.Google Scholar
Rural West Tennessee African-American Affairs Council, Inc. v. McWherter. 1995. 836 F. Supp. 453.Google Scholar
Sánchez, José Ramón. 2007. Boricua Power: A Political History of Puerto Ricans in the United States. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
Singer, Audrey. 2004. The Rise of New Immigrant Gateways. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
Smith, Heather A., and Furuseth, Owen J., eds. 2006. Latinos in the New South: Transformation of Place. Hampshire: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Suro, Roberto, and Singer, Audrey. 2002. Latino Growth in Metropolitan America: Changing Patterns, New Locations. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
Thornburg v. Gingles. 1986. 478 U.S. 30.Google Scholar
Torres, Andrés, ed. 2006. Latinos in New England. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
U.S. Census Bureau. 2010. “Annual Estimates of the Resident Population by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin for Counties: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2009.” http://www.census.gov/popest/counties/asrh/CC-EST2009-alldata.html.Google Scholar
Zúñiga, Victor, and Hernández-León, Rubén, eds. 2005. New Destinations. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar