There’s no question Governor Greg Abbott will gladly comply, likely later this week.
It’s a redistricting plan that has seemed to light a fuse on nationwide efforts by both major parties to gain an upper hand in Washington, D.C.
But in Texas, it was really self-defense, U.S. Rep. Michael Cloud said on Washington Watch Tuesday.
“We’ve seen over the years how the Leftists have completely weaponized redistricting,” he told show host Jody Hice. “For us to right the scales, this was what we needed to do for our national priorities. We understand what needs to happen here.”
The Texas House and Senate have both passed redistricting legislation after Democrats who had fled the capital have since returned.
“The One Big Beautiful Map has passed the Senate and is on its way to my desk where it will be swiftly signed into law,” Abbott said following the state Senate vote. "I promised we would get this done, and we delivered on that promise. I thank Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick for leading the passage in the Senate of a bill that ensures our maps reflect Texans' voting preferences."
The proposed map has drawn criticism from voting-rights activists who says it’s racially biased and that it dilutes voting power for Blacks and Latinos.
The NAACP has requested a court injunction to halt the implementation of the map, calling it a partisan maneuver timed for electoral advantage.
The redistricting fight is on
Since Donald Trump was elected for his first term in 2016, red and blue states alike, at least 11, have seen their maps redrawn or overturned because of alleged Voting Rights Act violations or constitutional challenges.
The practice almost always has more of a political angle than a people angle.
What’s new about right now is the scale, according to the Harvard Kennedy School, a graduate school of public policy and government. Gerrymandering can be done more effectively now because technology offers fine-grained data on the population and on how people are likely to vote and computing techniques to design maps in clever ways. Put all that together with intense polarization and that creates a perfect storm where gerrymandering can flourish.
Traditionally, redistricting takes place once a decade after the census. So, for example, Texas redrew its maps in 2021, and those maps have been in place for the 2022 and 2024 elections. Mid-decade redistricting is rare, but since Texas’ actions at least a dozen states have either proposed or openly discussed redrawing their maps in an effort to either counter or boost the Lone Star State.
If these states follow through, some measures won’t be in place for the 2026 mid-term elections, but many will.
In California, lawmakers have approved Governor Gavin Newsom’s plan for a special November ballot measure to install a new political map aimed at flipping five Republican seats – the same number Texas hopes to flip with its new map.
The Assembly passed the measure 57-20, and lawmakers on the floor erupted in applause even before they closed the vote. The Senate passed it hours later on a party-line vote, 30-8. Newsom declared a Nov. 4 special election shortly afterward, CalMatters.org reported.
At a press conference to promote the upcoming campaign for what will appear on the ballot as Proposition 50, he said it was time for Democrats to “play hardball” in response to the Trump administration’s moves to “advance their power.”
“We tried to hold hands and talk about the way the world should be,” he said. “We can’t just think differently, we have to act differently.”
California Assemblyman Josh Lowenthal said, “If unaddressed, Texas’ actions – which occur without the vote of the populace – will disenfranchise California.”
California Republicans pleaded for restraint.
“There’s really only one way to stop – someone has to refrain from striking back, and show a better way,” said Assemblyman James Gallagher, the minority leader.
New York state of mind
New York, similar to California, has an independent commission that changes the political maps only after every census. But state Democrats introduced legislation to allow this mid-decade redistricting.
Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul said that if Texas proceeds, “we must do the same.”
But the soonest new maps could be in place would be for the 2028 elections. That is because the proposal would require an amendment to the state constitution, a change that would have to pass the Legislature twice and be approved by voters.
“The big arguments you see coming from the Left only reveal their hypocrisy,” Cloud said. “You could go down the list, state after state after state … they’ve done this so many times.”
