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The Texas Senate on Thursday passed a new congressional map in a Trump-backed bid to bolster the Republican Party’s chances of maintaining their majority in the U.S. House next year.
The new Texas map secures an additional five Republican-leaning congressional districts in the Lone Star State, shifting the balance of power ahead of competitive midterm elections expected in 2026.
Republicans pulled off the political victory despite weeks of Democrats breaking quorum, which included fleeing the state to avoid a redistricting vote.
The Republican-controlled state Senate passed the redistricting map on Friday, just two days after clearing the GOP-held House by an 88-52 vote. Next up, the measure heads to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk for his signature.
ABBOTT SCORES BIG WIN IN REDISTRICTING BATTLE AS TEXAS DEMOCRATS’ BLOCKADE COLLAPSES
Abbott pushed for the creation of a new map to adhere to President Donald Trump’s desire to not see a repeat of the 2018 election cycle, when Democrats handily regained the majority in the House and acted as a foil to the president’s legislative aspirations toward the end of his first term.
Sen. Phil King, R-Tx., carried the map in the Senate, and contended on the floor that the map generated more competitive districts, but still believed they would be won by Republicans during the 2026 midterm election cycle.
“[House bill] four, I believe, should elect more Republicans to the U.S. Congress, but I’m here to tell you, there are no guarantees,” he said.
TEXAS GOP LAWMAKERS POISED TO FINALIZE TRUMP-BACKED MAP AFTER DEM REDISTRICTING WALKOUT ENDS
While Republicans control a supermajority in deep-red Texas, Democrats still need to create a quorum in the House to actually move the process along.
Dozens of Texas Democrats fled the state to stall the process, creating a national media frenzy and generating support from Democratic donors, including groups linked to George Soros and Beto O’Rourke, to help pay for their fines, travel and lodging.
It generated pushes to have them arrested by Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, as well as a request from Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to have the FBI track them down and the DOJ launch an investigation into the political action committees funding their escape.
Democratic leaders announced Monday they would return for the second special session following California’s plan to redraw its maps to soften the blow from the Lone Star State, ending the blockade and allowing Republicans to charge ahead.
Texas House Democrats accused the GOP of crafting a map that was illegal and racially discriminatory, and they tried and failed on the House floor to add amendments to the bill that would have halted the process. Despite Democrats’ best efforts, Texas House Republicans shot down a dozen amendments to the bill.
“Members, it breaks my heart to see how this illegal and rigged, mid-decade redistricting scheme is dividing our state and our country,” Rep. Chris Turner, a Democrat, said. “This is Texas, it’s not Washington D.C. The impulses of outside politicians and their billionaire backers shouldn’t dictate what we do in this chamber, in this House.”
Rep. Todd Hunter, a Republican who wrote the bill for the new map, countered that four of the five new districts were “majority-minority Hispanic,” noting that each of the new districts now trended Republican. Still, he had no qualms as to why Republicans were pursuing changes to the congressional maps.
“The underlying goal of this plan is straightforward, [to] improve Republican political performance,” he said.
The Democrats’ blockade ended on Monday, when Abbott called for a second special session after their demands for California to also begin a redistricting cycle were met in an effort to nullify the map Texas Republicans were creating.
However, Abbott’s push could still be nullified. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Democrats passed their own new map on Thursday, which creates five new districts that lean Democratic and jeopardize the seats of Republicans.
But the map is not official yet, given that California voters will get to weigh in on Nov. 4 to decide if they want to accept the changes.
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