Trump Pushes Texas Redistricting to Aid GOP in Congress

Last month, President Donald Trump surprised Texas politicians when he requested the state redraw its congressional districts to try and pick up extra seats in next year’s midterm elections.

At first, state Republicans appeared reluctant, but Gov. Greg Abbott eventually announced redistricting would be part of the Texas Legislature’s special session, which began July 21 and lasts 30 days.

Texas Republicans have already launched a series of public hearings on the issue, as Democrats argue it’s an illegal attempt to limit minority groups’ representation in Congress.

READ MORE: Race takes center stage in GOP push to redraw Texas congressional map

In Texas, redrawing the maps means millions voters could end up with new congressional representation. And members of Congress from both parties are likely to end up in more competitive districts, setting up a potentially close election for many seats next November.

Some Democratic governors are now floating plans to redraw their own state’s congressional maps to counter Texas’ bid to boost Republicans’ numbers in Congress.

Here’s what you need to know:

What is redistricting?

States redraw their political maps every decade after new census figures are released. Texas’ population has grown so much that after the last census in 2020, the state gained two new seats in Congress, bringing the total to 38.

Each congressional district needs to have roughly 765,000 people in it. It’s up to state lawmakers to craft the boundaries of each district.

The GOP-led Legislature drew the current maps four years ago, which gave Republicans 25 of the state’s congressional seats and Democrats 11.

Why does Trump want Republicans to redraw Texas congressional maps?

Trump called on Texas lawmakers to redraw the state’s maps to give Republicans five more winnable congressional districts in next year’s midterm elections. The president has also hinted that other Republican-led states should follow suit, but said "Texas would be the biggest one."

The additions would give the GOP a better shot at holding onto its thin majority in Congress.

How could the GOP add more winnable seats in Texas?

State lawmakers have yet to reveal the new maps. But in theory, they could make five of the state’s Democrat-leaning districts tilt toward Republicans by shifting around certain voters.

For example, they could move voters from the state’s most Republican-heavy congressional districts into a few of the Democratic-leaning ones.

Many of the state’s congressional districts have such a heavy concentration of GOP voters that they could lose some and still be winnable by Republican candidates.

But it gets complicated because changing the lines of some districts would have a ripple effect across the whole map.

Which Texas congressional districts are being targeted?

Political observers in Washington and Austin alike have zeroed in on a handful of Democratic districts that Republicans are most likely to target.

Among them are those currently occupied by U.S. Reps. Lizzie Fletcher of Houston, Henry Cuellar of Laredo, Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen, Julie Johnson of Richardson, and one of two Austin districts occupied by Reps. Loyd Doggett and Greg Casar.

Why are Democrats in the Texas Legislature threatening a walkout?

Without the votes in either chamber to block a redistricting bill, one option for Democrats in the state Legislature is to try and delay the process. The way they could do that is by denying the two-thirds attendance in either the House or Senate required for a quorum to conduct business.

But that could come with consequences. In the House, members can be forced back to the Capitol by state troopers or employees of the chamber’s sergeant-at-arm office. They can be fined up to $500 a day for unauthorized absence, and the chamber’s rules allow for a vote on whether to expel quorum-busting lawmakers from office.

Is the redistricting legal?

Yes. The most recent example of mid-decade congressional redistricting in Texas was 2003 to replace court-drawn maps put in place two years earlier with ones crafted by the Legislature. That Republican-led effort also was met with separate quorum breaks by Democrats in both chambers. But Democrats did return and the new map was enacted.