OR YOU COULD MAKE THE HISPANICS MORE FAVORABLE TO THE PARTY:

Hispanic Population Growth Complicates Texas GOP's Redistricting Hopes (Cameron Joseph, February 17, 2011, Hotline)

Texas is officially a majority-minority state, according to just-released Census numbers, the first time in the decennial census that it has crossed that threshold.

Whites now account for just 45 percent of the state's population, down from 52 percent a decade ago. The Hispanic population is now 38 percent of the total population - growing by 42 percent -- while the African American population grew slightly and is now 12 percent of the total population. The state gained four congressional seats in reapportionment, largely due to minority growth: almost 90 percent of the state's growth was from minorities.

The Census findings complicate Republicans' hopes for a partisan gerrymander during this redistricting process. The Democratic lean of Hispanic voters and Voting Rights Act requirements that protect the group's voting strength from being watered down means that despite Republican control of the redistricting process, the GOP will struggle to make the map much more favorable to their party.