Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst today named state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, as chairman of a select committee on redistricting.

You’ll remember the last time the Legislature sought to redraw congressional and legislative boundaries, after the 2000 census. Lawmakers didn’t do it quite to the liking of then-U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who swept into the state and persuaded Gov. Rick Perry to call a special session to redraw the lines to create a more heavily Republican congressional delegation. Democrats didn’t like that, they bolted, fled the state and sought to freeze the process.

Their rebellion didn’t work. DeLay got what he wanted. And the rest is history.

Now it’s 2010 and the next Legislature will be tasked with redrawing the boundaries again. This time, we have one of our own from the Panhandle at the center of the storm.

It remains to be seen whether Seliger’s presence as select committee chairman will help us protect the region’s political clout. No doubt, Seliger will be feeling the heat from throughout the state.

But it’s good to know that one of our own has a leadership role to play in this most partisan political exercise.