Wall Street Journal: Latino Activists Seize on Texas Ruling to Boost Voting Power

July 25, 2009 – The Wall Street Journal reports on Brewer Storefront’s successful Voting Rights Act lawsuit and federal court decision that ordered Irving, Texas, to reorganize its City Council election system to give Hispanics more voting power.  

The reporting observed that Latino activists were using the successful case as a “template” nationwide in efforts to force electoral changes in communities.  

U.S. District Judge Jorge Solis ruled that the city’s system of electing council members “at large” diluted the influence of Hispanic voters. The new system to remedy the violation was described as likely to be electing council members by district (a transition approved after this article’s publication).  

The Journal article noted that following the decision, “With the data in hand, [Latino activists] plan to press politicians to give Latino residents more influence when they redraw congressional and state legislative districts, and to force cities and towns to retool municipal elections -- or face lawsuits like the one in Irving.” 

The lawsuit was brought by Manuel Benavidez, a Hispanic resident, and while Latinos made up nearly 42% of the city’s population, only one Latino had won a city council seat in the prior 20 years, and he did not have a Spanish surname nor did he acknowledge any Hispanic heritage until after his election.  

Bill Brewer, the attorney who represented Benavidez, said his “phone has been ringing off the hook” since the court ruling from activists in other cities who wanted to bring similar cases.  

Read more here. 

Dallas Morning News: Studies – Hispanic Candidates Blocked

July 11, 2008 – The Dallas Morning News reports that new studies released as part of a federal voting rights lawsuit brought against the City of Irving found that the city’s at-large voting system allowed white voters to block the election of Hispanic-favored candidates. 

“It is clear that whites vote as a bloc, and given they vote as a bloc, it effectively negates any chance a Hispanic has at being elected,” said attorney Bill Brewer, who represented plaintiff Manuel Benavidez in the lawsuit.  

The Brewer firm commissioned the studies on Irving City Council elections in 2002, 2005 and 2008. The article noted that they were conducted by an expert on election systems and minority voters and the founder of a database management firm specializing in Census data.  

The lawsuit requested that a U.S. district court declare that Irving’s at-large method violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and asked the city to develop a new system of electing council members.  

Dallas Morning News: Trial Over Voting Sees First Battle

February 18, 2009 – The Dallas Morning News reports that a federal court challenge to the City of Irving’s at-large City Council elections opened with disagreements over data interpretation.  

Brewer Storefront represented plaintiff Manuel Benavidez in a voting rights lawsuit against the city, arguing that its at-large voting method effectively denies representation to Hispanics.  

Expert David Ely testified that socioeconomic and educational disparities between Irving’s Hispanic and white populations made successful city council campaigns difficult for Hispanics.  

“It’s more difficult for candidates from this community to obtain the vote,” Ely said. He said he used 2000 U.S. Census data, 2006 Census estimates and his own projects to develop possible Hispanic voter majority districts.