Thanks to DeLay's gerrymandering of Texas, the state now has no clout in the Democratic-led legislature.

Not a single Lone Star lawmaker will hold a top-ranked job, a far cry from the days when Fort Worth's Jim Wright was speaker, or the more recent years when Republicans Dick Armey and Tom DeLay served back-to-back terms setting the agenda as majority leader.

"It's a low point," said former Dallas congressman John Bryant, a Democrat. "It's not like it was, there's no question about that."

Without exception, Democrats blame the redistricting Mr. DeLay engineered. Three veterans who lost their seats would have chaired major committees in the Pelosi House [...]

Democrats grumble that the GOP-led remap of Texas congressional boundaries cost the state at least three chairmanships. Martin Frost of Dallas would be taking over the powerful Rules Committee, which controls how bills are amended and debated. West Texan Charlie Stenholm would be the new agriculture chairman, just in time to write the next farm bill. And East Texan Jim Turner would be preparing to run the Homeland Security Committee.

"New York, Minnesota and Mississippi should send us a giant thank-you card," said Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, referring to the states the incoming chairmen of Rules, Agriculture and Homeland Security committees call home. "Tom DeLay and Rick Perry's redistricting efforts gutted Texas. ... I hope that's a lesson that no one, neither party, should ever put pure partisan interest above the interest of Texas." [...]

The Democrats' takeover will cost Texas Republicans three chairmanships.

Rep. Joe Barton of Ennis is losing the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee to Michigan Rep. John Dingell. Two other Texans would have chaired the Judiciary and Science committees, Reps. Lamar Smith of San Antonio and Ralph Hall of Rockwall. So Texas' voices won't be quite as prominent on immigration and NASA.

Thanks to DeLay, Texas now has zip. Zero. Nada.