Tom DeLay ally finds home at Apple

Apple doesn't seem to be the first company you'd think of if you were looking for Republican lawyers well versed in redrawing congressional districts, but the job market makes for novel combinations.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based computer maker now employs Joby Fortson, a former aide to Representative Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, according to the New Yorker Magazine. In 2003, DeLay helped push through a state bill that redrew the congressional districts in the state. The plan helped add Republicans to the House of Representatives.

Fortson wrote a memo at the time, according to the magazine, that outlined the partisan nature of the bill. In the memo, Fortson noted that Martin Frost, the state's senior Democratic congressman, would have to run in a different district.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha....His district disappeared," wrote Fortson.

"This is the most aggressive map I have ever seen," he wrote. "This has a real national impact that should assure that Republicans keep the House no matter the national mood."

Apple declined to comment.

Whatever your politics, it will be interesting to see if this kind of aggressiveness can help Apple finally burst through that five percent market share barrier. (Apple currently has under three percent of the worldwide PC market.)