Doggett: One congressman for Austin

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A population boom means Texas will pick up four new Congressional seats next year, and Congressman Lloyd Doggett , D-Austin, said Wednesday that Republicans could use one of those new districts to further split Travis County.

Three members of the U.S. House now divvy it up: Doggett and Republicans Lamar Smith of San Antonio and Michael McCaul of Austin. Doggett said Austin has enough voters -- mainly Democratic -- for one district, so the city could have only one representative.

"It's not just about me personally,” said Doggett. “This is who will express the voice of our values here in central Texas over the next decade. And unfortunately, Mr. Smith and Mr. McCaul have decided to go Tom Delay one better and divide Travis County up into four pieces. It's really outrageous."

McCaul, who won his seat after DeLay, who was then the GOP leader in Congress, spearheaded a special redistricting effort in Texas to boost the number of Texas Republicans in the U.S. House, offered a different viewpoint.

"In my conversations with Rep. Doggett, we've discussed that it makes more sense for me to represent western Travis County where it is more conservative and for him to represent eastern Travis County where it is more liberal,” said McCaul in a statement.