Summary
- Texas Senate panel advances GOP-friendly House map.
- The plan gives Republicans multiple 2026 pickup chances.
- Redistricting effort moving quickly in both chambers.
- New lines aim to strengthen the GOP majority.
- Map could reshape Texas congressional representation.
The same set of congressional boundaries that a Texas state House passed earlier this month was advanced by the Texas Senate Special Committee on Congressional Redistricting in a 6-1 vote.
Lawmakers in the Austin, Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Rio Grande Valley regions will be impacted by the House plan, which attempts to provide Republicans with five additional pickup possibilities.
The Texas Senate committee's decision sets up the House lines for a floor vote.
However, the attempt to enact the maps in both chambers has stalled because Texas Democrats have left the state to prevent the quorum, which is the bare minimum of lawmakers required to do business. How long Democrats will avoid Texas is still up in the air.
Texas state Sen. Borris Miles (D), who sits on the Senate redistricting committee, strongly condemned the Republicans’ efforts to pass the gerrymandered map in remarks before the vote.
“I’m truly saddened, but I guess at this point I should not be shocked by the fact that my colleagues — you all — have openly embraced an invitation to engage in overt racism, mindful of our sordid history of disenfranchising people who look like me,”
said Miles, who is Black.
“These seats don’t belong to Donald J. Trump. He’s not owning — he doesn’t own anything,”
Miles continued.
“And we should not be auctioned off — our votes — to get him five more seats, Mr. Chairman. These seats belong to the people of Texas.”
What legal challenges could delay or block the new Texas redistricting plan?
Lawsuits can be filed at any time alleging the redistricting plan violates the Texas Constitution, federal Constitution, or federal laws such as the Voting Rights Act. State lawsuits typically go to state courts, while federal challenges may be filed in federal court. Courts can declare a plan invalid, prompting new plans or court-ordered maps.
The DOJ previously challenged Texas maps for unlawfully combining Black and Hispanic voters, and Democrats allege the latest GOP plan dilutes minority voting power to create partisan advantage.
These claims might trigger Voting Rights Act litigation, though recent Supreme Court decisions have limited courts' ability to intervene in partisan gerrymandering cases but still allow intervention in racial gerrymandering cases.