Texas Divided

More silly speculation about Texas... On Monday, I posted maps speculating on Texas Secession. One of the common myths about Texas history is that the terms under which the Republic of Texas joined the United States was that they had the right to secede... well their defeat in the Civil War actually settled that... but one of the terms that WAS agreed to at the time was that Texas has the right to subdivide into (up to) five states!

FiveThirtyEight speculates on how Texas might be divided, and the subsequent impact on the division of power between Red and Blue:



The end result of this exercise is that Republicans could net as many as six more seats in the Senate, and Democrats two. What are they waiting for?

Of course, it would never happen. Texans are too attached to their state's shape to ever consider such an astute political maneuver. There is an entire industry built upon selling kitschy souvenirs in the shape of Texas. It is not to be messed with.