As the battle over Texas redistricting maps continues in two separate federal courts, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Laredo said Monday that he believes both sides will reach an agreement before the Feb. 6 deadline to ensure a primary election April 3.

"I see it doable," Cuellar said. "Right now, some of the parties have been talking. They went over the weekend and they were talking about trying to work something out."

Cuellar called the talks an extremely positive sign since Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott had previously declined all attempts at negotiations by the plaintiffs, who argue that the state's plan violates two sections of the Voting Rights Act.

"Hopefully, they'll agree with the districts they don't have a problem with, and the courts can focus on following the state plan and focus on the districts they do have a problem with," Cuellar said, adding that traditionally the 23rd and 27th districts have raised the biggest concerns but plaintiffs may have issues with districts in the Dallas area as well.

Any agreement would only address the argument regarding Section 5 of the VRA. There's the still the battle over Section 2, meaning where voters are now, could change again.

"We're fighting over two years, that's it," Cuellar said. "Just two years, not permanent maps for the next ten years."

A Washington federal court will hear final arguments in a separate pre-clearance hearing Tuesday. But a compromise before then would make that battle unnecessary, at least for now.

"My prediction is we're going to be talking about this 2014, 2015 possibly," Cuellar said.

A week ago, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the maps drawn by the San Antonio federal court and ordered it to redraw maps using the state legislature's plan as a guide. On Tuesday, in a separate case, the federal court in Washington, D.C., will hear closing arguments in a pre-clearance trial but Cuellar expects negotiations between sides to reconvene Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, which could make a Washington court decision unnecessary.
"I'm an optimist and I'm hopeful that they'll do something before February 6," Cuellar said, adding that because the battle is over temporary maps, he expects a battle over permanent maps to continue into 2014, possibly 2015.