Trump Demands Five More GOP Congressional Seats in Texas Redistricting

President Donald Trump is pushing Texas Republicans to carve out five new GOP congressional seats in their surprise redistricting effort that will begin next week when state lawmakers return to the Capitol.

Trump said on his social media platform, Truth Social, that he had spoken with "our Great Congressmen and women of Texas" about redistricting. He amplified his message later with reporters.

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“I think we’ll get five,” Trump said. “And there could be some other states we’re going to get another three, or four or five in addition. Texas would be the biggest one.”

Republicans currently hold 25 of the state's 38 congressional districts, which were last drawn four years ago to reflect the 2020 census count. Adding five more GOP seats would effectively mean that nearly 80% of the Texas population is represented in the U.S. House by Republicans.

By contrast, the 2024 Republican presidential ticket headed by Trump received 56% of the Texas popular vote.

Texas congressional Democrats pushed back Tuesday against the president's push, with Democratic U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Austin saying a "desperate president is doing whatever it takes to cling to power."

"Make no mistake, there will not be a Texas map. There is a Trump map," Doggett said, joined by several members of the party's Texas delegation.

Gov. Greg Abbott added congressional redistricting to an already crowded agenda for the 30-day special legislative session that opens Monday, with an upcoming midterm election cycle that is typically bruising for the party that controls the White House. But to meet the high bar set by Trump, which was first reported by the online political platform Punchbowl News, Texas map drawers could risk weakening several of the comparatively safe seats they are presently holding.

"Where are they (Republicans) going to find five more seats?" political science professor Jon Taylor of the University of Texas at San Antonio asked rhetorically in an interview.

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The present map, drawn by the GOP majorities in the Texas House and Senate and signed into law by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in 2021, was crafted to maximize the party's advantage. Much of the vast bulk of the state's district map is colored bright red, with comparatively small pockets of blue around the urban centers and in South Texas.

The lower Rio Grande Valley remained Democrat-friendly after the 2022 elections, but Republicans managed to flip one South Texas seat in 2024. Texas Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said on X he expects the continued GOP success in South Texas.

"Hispanic voters in Texas have rapidly shifted in favor of the GOP, in large part thanks to @realdonaldtrump, so a mid decade redistricting will mean significant gains for Texas Republicans," Cornyn posted.

Because all districts must be roughly equal in population, pulling reliably Democratic voters from one district and replacing them with GOP loyalists would mean those displaced Democrats would have to be absorbed into once-safe Republican enclaves, Taylor said.

But Democratic House members including U.S. Reps. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio, Jasmine Crockett of Dallas and Lizzie Fletcher and Al Green of Houston appear concerned about additional losses under any new maps. The party holds 12 seats. A 13th has been vacant since the death of U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner in March.

The GOP now has a slim 220-212 House advantage that includes three vacancies, including the safe Democratic seat that had been held by Turner.

Doggett, who has been in Congress since 1995 and is the state's senior member, has long been a target of Republican map drawers. But he has always been able to outfox his pursuers, even when they stripped him of much of his home base of Austin and drew his district to include some of the far reaches of South Texas in 2011.

Instead of talking about his own political survival in the 2026 election cycle, Doggett sought to frame the planned redrawing as an effort to dilute the strength of voters who are not on board with Republicans, who control the White House and both Houses of Congress.

"I won't be asking them (the Legislature) to protect my seat, nor should any member of this delegation," Doggett said. "What we'll be doing is asking them to protect democracy."