In 2002, the Rs kicked the Dems out of control of Congress, knocked off the Senate Majority Leader for the first time in a bazillion years, and even defeated a guy (Max Cleland) who lost three limbs in Vietnam, in part by smearing him as somehow un-American (I ain’t forgetting that one anytime soon). But in Texas, the Congressional delegation ended up split, w/a one-seat R advantage, in part because most of the TX Dem congressmembers were entrenched incumbents and hard to beat.

In 2004, the Rs managed a narrow victory around the country, with Bush winning the popular vote and electoral college but with the Rs essentially keeping the same number of seats in the House. The Texas results? Roughly the same breakdown of overall votes (roughly 55-45 R advantage), but a 21-11 R advantage in in the state’s Congressional delegation. Same electorate, roughly the same overall voting pattern, in a LESS conservative year overall, but a massively different outcome in the Congressional election results. The variable? Redistricting — pure and simple, since nothing else changed! (You can blame Dems for running bad campaigns, but that’s nothing new in Texas — Dems have been running crappy campaigns for decades now…). This is why political professionals pay attention to redistricting — it really, really matters.

As for the court cases, you’re right that courts drove the increase in minority representation, and if I remember right, we were in special session in TX in 1992 b/c an earlier redistricting plan had been thrown out by the courts. But there’s a difference between creating districts that give minority voters an equal voice in the process and creating districts that pack them all together, surrounding them with other districts that have just enough (presumably) Republican voters to make them a reasonably safe R seat. THAT’S the politics — and at least one of those Texas Congressmembers you mention quite happily acquiesced in the process so that she could get her OWN safe seat. Cynical political motives masked in the language of civil rights — you gotta love politics…

Some of the rural Dems lost (Stenhom) when running for re-election, while others won (Edwards). It was the voters of each district that made their choice.

You also have to consider the federal courts intervening for protection of minority voting rights. These rulings have mandated some districts that are packed with 70% or more minorities. Sheila Jackson-Lee in Houston and Eddie Bernice Johnson in Dallas are examples. This consolidates many solid Dems into a few inner-city districts.