As Texas Legislature Advances Racist Redistricting Effort, Where is AT&T?

Washington, D.C. — After passing one of the most harmful, racially-motivated voter suppression schemes in the nation, Texas House Republicans have now approved a new partisan district map that would further diminish the freedom of many voters of color to have a say in decisions that impact their lives. As Texas pushes these anti-democratic redistricting efforts, government watchdog Accountable.US called on Texas-based AT&T to stand by its stated public values by condemning this latest attack on democracy.  

According to the Texas Tribune, “people of color fueled 95% of the state’s population growth over the past decade,” but the Republicans’ new proposed maps drops the number of districts with Black residents as the majority of eligible voters from seven to six.  

“AT&T likes to tell its customers and shareholders it values democracy — yet never backs it up with action when it matters most. Instead, the megacorporation is once again keeping quiet amid the latest racially-motivated assault on representative democracy in its home state. And all the while, its affiliated PACs keep dumping campaign money on politicians trying to take away peoples’ say in decisions that impact their own lives. The public doesn’t need to follow the money far to see what AT&T actually values,” said Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US.” 

Accountable.US revealed that in June 2021 alone, as the voting restriction proposals were facing intense public scrutiny in Texas, AT&T-affiliated PACs dumped at least $132,500 into the campaigns of Texas state lawmakers after they publicly pushed voter suppression bills — including $100,000 to Governor Greg Abbott on the same day Abbott called for a special legislative session to pass a voter suppression bill, among other right-wing priorities. 

# # #