Texas Republicans have approved a new congressional map, further consolidating their power in the state’s 36 districts. The map was passed by the Republican-controlled state Senate on Saturday morning after hours of debate and a party-line vote. Governor Greg Abbott is set to sign the legislation, which aims to give Republicans a significant advantage in next year’s midterms.
Under the new map, Republicans could earn up to five seats, increasing their current three-seat majority in the House. The map was drawn using 2024 election data and creates four new majority-Hispanic districts. The redistricting effort has sparked a national controversy, with California launching its own preemptive retaliation by approving a ballot measure to create five new Democratic seats.
The Texas Legislature’s gerrymandered map faces challenges in federal court, with the National Redistricting Foundation claiming it is an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The complaint alleges that the map subordinated other redistricting criteria to partisan advantage and targeted coalition districts where no single racial group makes up a majority.
The Supreme Court’s 2019 ruling on partisan gerrymandering has limited options for challenging maps, leaving racial gerrymandering claims as one of the last remaining ways to take action. The court will hear another significant case in October that could further weaken the Voting Rights Act.
Texas House Democrats protested the map by leaving the state for two weeks, but returned on Monday after receiving thousands of dollars in fines. One Democrat, Rep. Nicole Collier, staged a three-day sit-in on the House floor, refusing to sign a permission slip allowing an officer to monitor her movements.
Source: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/23/texas-passes-congressional-map-gerrymander-00519116