By Texas Democrats are panicking over a Trump-endorsed push to redraw the state’s congressional map mid-decade. With Governor Greg Abbott convening a special session next week to take up redistricting, the Republican-controlled Legislature appears poised to expand its political dominance in Washington.
President Donald Trump has made little effort to conceal his intentions. “Texas would be the biggest one,” he told reporters at the White House. “Just a very simple redrawing, we pick up five seats.” According to sources familiar with a recent call between Trump’s political team and Texas GOP lawmakers, the plan envisions adding five Republican-leaning districts, according to reports.
Democrats, shut out of the redistricting process in Austin, fear the move will again erode minority voting strength in a state long dogged by accusations of racial gerrymandering. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, whose district the Department of Justice previously cited as an illegal racial gerrymander, called the new effort an “attempt to silence the voices of communities of color who have powered progress in Texas for decades.”
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, added that Republican defenses lacked credibility. “The notion that Texas Republicans had drawn a map that disadvantaged white voters was ludicrous,” he said. “[That’s] not a big problem that we’ve ever had down there in my lifetime.”
With few procedural tools to halt the redistricting plan, Democrats are weighing countermeasures. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., cautioned Republicans against overreaching. “Texas Republicans are likely going to continue to act like political punks and bend the knee to Donald Trump’s extreme agenda,” Jeffries said. He warned the proposed map could become a “dummymander” — so aggressive it risks political backlash. “They will jeopardize their own electoral careers.”
Some Democrats have called for red-state tactics to be matched in blue states. California Governor Gavin Newsom has reportedly signaled interest in a plan to circumvent his state’s independent redistricting commission. “We want our gavels back. That’s what this is about,” said Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., who stands to chair the House Veterans Affairs Committee if Democrats reclaim the majority.
Republicans, for their part, have offered a range of responses — from caution to deflection. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, questioned the reliability of using outdated 2020 census data. “We have a whole lot of people [that have] come into the state since then,” he said. Rep. Keith Self of McKinney brushed off questions: “That’s a state issue.” Rep. Pete Sessions struck a similar tone, saying, “It is up to the governor and up to the lieutenant governor and the speaker.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a sharp warning to Democrats mulling a walkout, pledging to use law enforcement to ensure “the attendance of anyone abandoning their office and their constituents for cheap political theater.”
Gerrymandering may end up just being an excuse for Democrats underperforming this midterm. A 2023 study by the Brookings Institution, “The Gerrymander Myth,” challenged conventional narratives about its significance. “Journalists, pundits, and some political scientists argue that gerrymandering distorts representation and gives an unearned advantage to the Republican Party, which controls the majority of governorships and state legislatures,” the report noted. “This belief has earned the redistricting process a secure place in the reform agendas of many activists. This may have been the case in the past, but a straightforward analysis shows that it isn’t true now and hasn’t been for several election cycles.”
The dispute unfolds as Democrats are incredibly unpopular, despite not being the party in charge.
Reality check: Dems are way behind their 2006 & 2018 pace on the generic ballot at this point in the cycle.
Ahead by only 2 pt vs. 7 pt in 2006/2018 cycles.
Seat-by-seat analysis actually reveals more GOP pickup opportunities than Dems! Very much unlike 2006 & 2018 at this pt. pic.twitter.com/CRgXukTjz6
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) July 16, 2025
Fewer than 2 in 10 Americans approve of the Democrats, according to recent polling. “A Quinnipiac University poll published Wednesday showed a mere 19 percent of voters approve of how Democrats in Congress are handling their duties, with 72 percent disapproving.
The poll said, “This is a record low since March 2009 when the Quinnipiac University Poll first began asking this question of registered voters.”
The article noted 33 percent approved of how congressional Republicans were handling their jobs, but 62 percent disapproved.”
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