Texas Republicans set to pass controversial Trump redistricting plan

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on Aug 20, 2025

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Texas Republicans Wednesday were poised to pass a controversial redistricting plan ordered by President Donald Trump to flip five Democratic seats in the 2026 midterm elections.

After Democrats ended a headline-grabbing bid to block the GOP move, Republicans teed off debate in the state House of Representatives by making no bones that their goal is to help Trump hold onto Congress in what is shaping up as a difficult political environment.

“The underlying goal of this plan is straightforward: improve Republican political performance,” Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi.

Democrats responded that the unprecedented mid-decade gerrymander effort is totally undemocratic.

“In a democracy, people choose their representatives,” said State Rep. Chris Turner, a Democrat. “This bill flips that on its head.”

Even as outnumbered Democrats scrambled to mount last-minute delay tactics, the bill was expected to pass the House as soon as late Wednesday. It would then be rubber-stamped by the state Senate and signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott, a strong Trump ally.

The Lone Star State amounts to the first battle in a mushrooming national redistricting battle that Trump unleashed last month with the goal of helping Republicans hold onto control of Congress next year, when history says the sitting president’s party would be expected to lose ground.

Red states including Ohio, Missouri and Indiana are also planning to nix Democratic-held seats.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is countering by pushing a new congressional map of the Golden State that could help Democrats win five seats back. That map would still need to be approved by voters in November.

In Texas, Democratic lawmakers fled the state to deny Republicans a quorum, a tactic that succeeded in delaying the measure for about two weeks.

They were still working overtime to spotlight the unusual methods Republicans were using to jam through the new map in a state where they control virtually all levers of power.

Once Democrats returned to the Capitol, GOP leaders ordered them to sign “permission slips” authorizing state police escorts to ensure they would return for the vote.

Rep. Nicole Collier, D-Fort Worth, refused the sign and slept overnight in the legislature chamber Monday. Seven colleagues joined her Tuesday night into Wednesday.

Rep. Linda Garcia, D-Dallas, said a state police officer tailed her as she drove three hours home from Austin. He followed her down each aisle when she went grocery shopping, then waited in an unmarked car outside her home.

“It’s a weird feeling,” she said. “It’s like I’m in a movie.”

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