The Texas Legislature began a special session the week of Monday, July 21, to redraw the state’s congressional districts in an effort to create five new Republican seats. GOP lawmakers hope the extra seats will help them hold the House majority in the 2026 midterms.
As Punchbowl News reported, dozens of Texas congressional districts shifted toward Republicans in the 2024 election, with some shifts exceeding double digits. President Donald Trump wants to capitalize on that, so he asked Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session. Reports indicate Abbott was reluctant, but he did it anyway.
“Just a very simple redrawing where we’ll pick up five seats. But we have a couple of other states where we’re going to pick up seats also,” Trump told reporters.
Nationwide, Trump hopes that redistricting will give Republicans an additional eight to ten seats in the 2026 midterm elections.
Which districts could Republicans target?
According to the non-profit San Antonio Report, Texas Republicans could try to alter the following districts to gain seats.
- 28th District
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D, has held this seat since 2005. Republicans believe Latinos who live in border communities have moved to the right politically and would help them secure a victory.
- 21st District
This deep-red seat belongs to Rep. Chip Roy, R, and could be changed to move some Republican voters to a neighboring district.
- 23rd District
Rep. Tony Gonzales, R, won this seat with 57% of the vote last cycle. Like Roy, he may also lose some Republican constituents to help turn a neighboring district red.
- 35th and 20th Districts
There are two solid blue seats Republicans could try to move to the right by drawing in neighboring Republican voters. District 35, held by Rep. Greg Casar, D, who won it with 67% of the vote in 2024, and District 20, held by Rep. Joaquin Castro, D, who ran unopposed in 2024 to secure his seventh term.
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Gerrymandering, or manipulating electoral districts for political advantage, is named after former Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry, who redrew state senate districts.
Texas Republicans are in favor of this. For instance, as mentioned above, some Republicans in Gonzales’ district could be moved, making it harder for him to win reelection. Despite that, Gonzales told Axios that Trump is a “political genius” and “if we can pull off squeezing five more seats out of Texas, that’s a game changer.”
Democrats are calling the redistricting effort voter suppression.
“Gov. Abbott and Texas Republicans have utterly collapsed to pressure from President Trump, and they have surrendered Texas to political operatives from Washington, D.C., trading and dividing their constituents like commodities,” Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, D-Texas, said.
“They are prioritizing helping out-of-state political operatives abuse the voting rights and distort the political will of Texans so that national Republicans can try to hold on to their majority, their slim majority, their disappearing majority in the United States House of Representatives,” Fletcher continued.
Could Democrats also try to redistrict?
Democrats say if Texas and other red states try to redraw maps to get more seats in Congress, they’ll make attempts to do the same.
“If they’re going to go nuclear in Texas, I’m going to go nuclear in other places,” Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., told Axios. “I’m not gonna fight with one arm tied behind my back.”
California is one of the blue states considering a redistricting effort to counter Republican gains in Texas. Democrats in the Golden State told Punchbowl News they think they could get two or three extra seats.
Rep. Ami Bera, D-Calif., could have to run in a more competitive district if lines are redrawn. Despite that, he told Punchbowl, “I’d be fine if it helps us get the majority.”
However, California residents passed a law stating that redistricting is only supposed to be done once a decade by an independent commission, not by the legislature. So if they want to move forward, Gov. Gavin Newsom, D, will have to find a way to circumvent that law.
What is the standard redistricting process?
Redistricting is supposed to occur nationwide every decade. After the census, congressional seats are reapportioned to reflect changes in the population. After the 2020 Census, Texas gained two seats, while California, Illinois, New York and other states each lost one.
Blue state gerrymandering
As conservative Logan Dobson pointed out, Democrats have fewer seats to gain in blue states because they’re already gerrymandered in their favor.
California, Illinois and New Jersey have more than a 20-point spread between the percentage of the Republican vote in those states compared to the number of seats Republicans hold in their respective congressional delegations.
For instance, in California, Trump received 38% of the vote in 2024, but Republicans hold only 17% of the state’s 52 congressional seats.
In Texas, former Vice President Kamala Harris received 42% of the vote, while Democrats hold 32% of the state’s 38 congressional seats.
What other states could try to gerrymander their congressional map?
Other states that could make changes include Ohio, where legislators will meet later this year. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, R, said he thinks a mid-decade redistricting would be appropriate. Republicans may also try to take away a Democratic seat in Missouri.
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Author: Cassandra Buchman
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