Texas: Texas lawmakers have approved a new congressional district map designed to shift five Democratic-held US House seats into Republican hands ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
The bill passed the Republican-controlled Texas House by a vote of 88-52 along party lines after Democrats ended a two-week walkout that had stalled legislative business. The measure now moves to the state Senate before heading to Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who has pledged to sign it.
The mid-decade redistricting effort, a rare move outside the once-a-decade process tied to the US Census, was undertaken at the urging of President Donald Trump, who has pressed for stronger GOP control in Congress. Republicans currently hold 25 of Texas’s 38 seats under maps drawn four years ago.
Democrats condemned the new boundaries as an attempt to rig the outcome of the 2026 midterm elections and accused Republicans of deliberately weakening the voting power of minority communities.
“This is not democracy, this is authoritarianism in real time,” Democratic Representative John Bucy said during the floor debate, calling the map “Donald Trump’s design” to manufacture additional GOP seats.
The Big Beautiful Map is one step closer to being a reality in Texas! HB 4 (89th Leg., 2nd C.S.), the congressional redistricting map, has passed the Texas House of Representatives. Thank you to President @realdonaldtrump for your leadership in this matter! pic.twitter.com/J6uS8izA1n
— Texas GOP (@TexasGOP) August 20, 2025
Republicans countered that the map improves their political performance while also increasing the number of majority-Hispanic districts. The vote in Texas came as Democrats in California prepared to push through a competing redistricting package championed by Governor Gavin Newsom. The proposal seeks to flip five Republican congressional seats to the Democratic column and could be placed on the ballot in a November 4 special election.
In a boost for Democrats, the California Supreme Court rejected an emergency petition by Republican lawmakers that sought to delay legislative action on the plan. The dueling moves in Texas and California highlight an intensifying national struggle over political boundaries.
Other Republican-led states, including Ohio, Florida, Indiana, and Missouri, along with Democratic-leaning states such as Maryland and Illinois, are pursuing or considering their own redistricting drives.
Civil rights groups have vowed to challenge the Texas plan in court, arguing that it dilutes the voting power of Black, Latino, and Asian voters in violation of the federal Voting Rights Act. The US Supreme Court has generally allowed partisan gerrymandering but has prohibited maps that discriminate on racial or ethnic grounds.
Nationally, Republicans hold a narrow majority in the 435-seat U.S. House, which they recaptured in 2024 by only three seats. With Trump’s approval ratings under pressure since taking office in January, the GOP is seeking to consolidate its advantage before the 2026 midterms, when the president’s party historically loses ground.
