The five-hour mark of a public hearing on redistricting is around the moment when eyes begin to glaze over, even for the most fervent defenders of democracy. But my ears perked up when Michael Knight started talking about bees.

Knight, a Houston property management consultant, was one of hundreds of Texans who filed into the Student Center at the University of Houston on Saturday to slam, condemn and lambaste a plan cooked up by President Donald Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott to redraw several majority Black and Latino Houston congressional districts.

Of course, calling this redistricting attempt a “plan” is an insult to plans. There’s no official proposed map carving up the state with new salamander-esque districts stretching from the Panhandle to Pasadena. There’s barely a rationale for the House Redistricting Committee to convene beyond a naked partisan power grab to retain a razor-thin Republican majority in Congress ahead of the midterm elections.

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Despite being one of the only Republicans to testify Saturday, Knight doesn’t care about giving the GOP disproportionate influence in Texas and Washington. He’s sick of gerrymandering at all levels. He’s a resident of the 38th Congressional District, where the boundary lines were rather artistically manipulated —

© Houston Chronicle