Aug. 20 (Reuters) – Texas Republicans on Wednesday will feature a new state legislative map aimed at upsetting five democrats’ home seats in the mid-term elections next year after a two-week strike in which dozens of Democrats temporarily block the aisle.
Republican state lawmakers set out on a rare medieval district at the request of President Donald Trump, who is trying to improve the party’s party’s potential to maintain a narrow majority of U.S. House members despite political headwinds.
Gambit has caused wars in national constituencies, and the governors of both parties have threatened to launch similar efforts in other states.
Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom is working to neutralize Texas’ moves by drawing a map of the state again, turning five Republican seats over it, and turning the country’s most populous democrat against Texas, the most populous Republican. The Texas map is intended to overturn five Democratic seats.
Other Republican states, including Ohio, Florida, Indiana and Missouri, are considering whether they are moving forward with their own constituency change efforts, just like democracies like Maryland and Illinois.
Rezoning is usually carried out every ten years after the US Census to explain population changes, and is historically rare. In many states, lawmakers manipulate the line to support their party more than the opposition, known as gerrymandals.
The new Texas map was listed on the Capitol’s schedule on Wednesday, but it was not clear how fast Republicans could move to approve it. The bill is still debated on the floor, and Democrats could also introduce amendments to vote.
Democrats fled the state earlier this month, with Texas homes denying a quorum. In response, Republicans took extraordinary steps to try and force them into their homes, including removing them from their occupation and filing a lawsuit to issue arrest warrants.
The strike ended when Democrats voluntarily returned Monday, saying they achieved their goal of blocking votes at their first special legislative meeting and persuading Democrats in other states to take retaliatory steps.
Republican House leadership has assigned state law enforcement officials to monitor Democrats, and has not left the state again. Rather than accepting police escorts, one Democratic representative, Nicole Collier slept in the Capitol building Monday night.
Republicans, including Trump, have openly admitted that the new map is intended to enhance their political power. The party now manages 25 of the state’s 38 districts under the map of Republicans passed four years ago.
Democrats and civil rights groups said the new map violated federal law and sought racial minorities’ voting power.
Nationally, Republicans captured a 435-seat home in 2024 with just three seats. The president’s party historically lost its House seat in the first midterm elections, and since taking office in January, Trump’s approval rate has been slack.
(Reporting by Joseph Axe, Editing by Daniel Wallis)
