Texas Republicans are set to finalize a congressional redistricting plan backed by Donald Trump, which could create five new GOP congressional seats, following the return of Democratic lawmakers after a walkout. The Democrats had fled the state in an effort to block the vote, but with their return, the Republican-led legislature is now poised to proceed with the plan. If passed, the new congressional map would likely flip five seats currently held by Democrats over to Republicans, a reality that has unleashed cries of gerrymandering across the country.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has vowed to ‘fight fire with fire,’ saying New York Democrats will pursue their own redistricting plan. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has followed suit, with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) proposing a California congressional map that would flip five Republican seats over to Democrats. Meanwhile, more Republican states, including Ohio, Florida, Indiana and Missouri, are moving forward with or considering their own redistricting efforts, as are Democratic states such as Maryland and Illinois.
Nowhere has a redistricting battle been more dramatic than in Texas, where roughly 50 Democratic state lawmakers absconded from a special legislative session to block the vote in early August. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, and other state officials hit the Democratic legislators with lawsuits seeking criminal charges or to have them removed from office entirely. The walkout ended when Democrats returned on Monday, saying they had accomplished their goals of blocking a vote during the first special legislative session and persuading Democrats in other states to take retaliatory steps.