The University of Texas Press is proud to present a sweeping examination of the Texas Legislature’s controversial 2003 redistricting plan, whose effects continue to reverberate far beyond the state

Lines in the Sand

Congressional Redistricting in Texas and the Downfall of Tom DeLay
By Steve Bickerstaff

February 2007
$34.95, hardcover
6 x 9 in., 528 pp., 20 b&w photos, 7 maps
isbn-13: 978-0-292-71474-8, isbn -10: 0-292-71474-2

The events of 2003 in Texas were important to the political history of this country. Congressman Tom DeLay led a Republican effort to gerrymander the state’s thirty-two congressional districts to defeat all ten of the Anglo Democratic incumbents and to elect more Republicans; Democratic state lawmakers fled the state in an effort to defeat the plan. The Lone Star State uproar attracted attention worldwide. The Republicans won this showdown, gaining six additional seats from Texas and protecting the one endangered Republican incumbent. This outcome has undeniably affected national policy-making and has made it more difficult for Democrats to regain a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. Some of the methods used by DeLay to achieve this result, however, led to his criminal indictment and ultimately to his downfall.

With its eye-opening research, readable style, and insightful commentary, Lines in the Sand provides a front-line account of what happened in 2003, often through the personal stories of members of both parties and of the minority activist groups caught in a political vortex. Law professor Steve Bickerstaff provides much-needed historical perspective and also probes the aftermath of the 2003 redistricting, including the criminal prosecutions of DeLay and his associates and the events that led to DeLay’s eventual resignation from the U.S. House of Representatives.

STEVE BICKERSTAFF is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas School of Law and has written extensively on redistricting. He is retired from the law firm he founded and lives in Austin, Texas.

For more information, to schedule an interview or to request an event, please contact Stephanie Nelson at (512) 232-7634 or stephanie@utpress.ppb.utexas.edu.