Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday signed into legislation a brand new congressional voting map designed to assist Republicans achieve extra seats within the 2026 midterm elections, delivering a win for President Donald Trump and his want to carry onto a slim GOP majority within the U.S. Home.
The Texas map drafted in uncommon mid-decade redistricting prompted fierce protests from Democrats and sparked a gerrymandering tug-of-war for voters in states throughout the nation.
Earlier than Texas lawmakers handed their new map, California had handed a invoice that can ask voters to approve new Democratic-leaning districts to counter any Republican beneficial properties in Texas.
The incumbent president’s get together normally loses congressional seats within the midterm election. On a nationwide degree, the partisan make-up of current districts places Democrats inside three seats of a majority.
Texas Democrats have vowed to problem the brand new map in courtroom. They delayed a vote within the state Home by two weeks by fleeing Texas in July in protest and to rally help nationally. And so they had been assigned round the clock police monitoring upon their return to make sure they attended Wednesday’s session.
However the giant Republican majority within the Texas Legislature made its final passage all however inevitable.
As a result of the Supreme Courtroom has blessed purely partisan gerrymandering, the one method opponents can cease the brand new Texas map could be by arguing in courtroom that it violates the Voting Rights Act requirement to maintain minority communities collectively to allow them to choose representatives of their selection.
Republican leaders have denied the map is racially discriminatory and contend the brand new map creates extra new majority-minority seats than the earlier one. They’ve additionally been specific of their want to attract a brand new map for a aim of electing extra Republicans.
