New redrawn Congressional District maps have moved Magnolia into new seats in the State House of Representative, as well as the State Senate.

In the Senate, Magnolia will be represented by Republican Senator Tommy Williams of District 4. Currently, the city is represented by Republican Robert Nichols in District 3.

Geoffrey Urbach, Legislative Assistant for current Representative for Dist. 15 Rob Eissler, said that Nichols’ district covered more northern areas. Williams will represent areas closer to Magnolia.

In the House of Representatives, Magnolia is currently represented by Eissler. However, the city will now be encompassed by a newly-created seat within District 3.

District 15 will now cut off at FM 2978 toward the east due to the increased population growth in Montgomery County. The new seat in District 3 has yet to be claimed, pending an election.

Urbach said Eissler’s district was too large, so district boundaries were adjusted so that 58,000 citizens were removed from his district and placed into District 3 for the incoming representative.

The redistricting occurred because of increased population growth in Texas, especially the Montgomery County area.

Other redistricting areas have been viewed as controversial because of a perceived lack of minority representation.

“It’s a concern some have,” Urbach said.

However, he said redistricting has strict guidelines. Representatives cannot “pack” a district with too much of one race and they cannot disperse, or “frack,” a district to gain votes.

He said legal cases have already been filed in other areas of the state on the current redistricting maps.

In Montgomery County he said he does not expect to see any issues.

“There’s not really a separation of community (in Montgomery County),” he said.

The maps have all passed the State Senate and House of Representatives, pending any cases filed which would force the Senate and House to make changes.

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