The Senate Special Committee on Congressional Redistricting voted 3-6 to deny a motion to authorize subpoenas for Adam Kinkade of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, who was identified by a committee member as the author of maps filed this week.

Senator Alvarado sponsored the motion and said the committee needed to know “what guidelines he used to draw these maps and if he drew the latest following the instructions of the DOJ to target districts based on race.” Alvarado cited prior committee subpoenas issued (but not enforced) to national firms and social media companies as precedent for seeking out-of-state testimony.

Chair Senator King and others opposed the motion, saying testimony from the map’s drafter would not change the committee’s legal review of the map itself. “I don't really see any purpose that his testimony...what really matters to us is what is in the 4 corners of that document,” the chair said, urging the committee to rely on legal analysis of any filed map.

Members also discussed practical enforcement limits for subpoenas of out-of-state persons and organizations and whether the National Republican Redistricting Trust maintains a Texas presence. The clerk reminded members the motion required a two-thirds record vote under Senate rule 11 (noted in the hearing as “Senate rule 11 20”).

The clerk called roll; the record shows Senators Alvarado, Hinojosa and Miles voting aye and Senators Hughes, Parker, Paxton, Sparks, Creighton and King voting no, producing a 3-6 result and causing the motion to fail.

After the vote, the chair said he had retained BakerHostetler to conduct an independent legal review of the House map filed that day and that the committee would consider maps that are filed or sent to the Senate in the coming days.