The Texas Legislature appears on the verge of redrawing congressional districts that will help Republicans in the midterm elections — a change requested by President Trump.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Texas Republicans are on the verge of redrawing the state’s congressional districts for President Trump.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Trump wants the change to help Republicans win, potentially, five more seats in next year’s elections. Now other states are looking to support or counter that. Texas Democrats left the state for a couple of weeks to try to slow it down.
MARTÍNEZ: The Texas Newsroom’s Blaise Gainey is in Austin to discuss this. So, Blaise, Texas Democrats came back to the legislature Monday after their walkout. So where do things stand now?
BLAISE GAINEY, BYLINE: Yeah. So first, while they were gone, House Democrats were threatened with arrest or being replaced. And when they came back to the House floor, Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows ordered them to sign a paper if they wanted to leave, pledging they’d show up for today’s session. And until then, they’ll be technically under custody of Texas law enforcement. Most of them signed and went home, except for one who refused, Representative Nicole Collier. She calls it demeaning. And she’s so far refused to sign and has chosen to stay in the chamber since Monday, giving interviews and even slept there. It’s become a form of protest. And some Democratic colleagues tore their papers up and said they were joining her last night, and she was planning on staying there again.
MARTÍNEZ: Wow. OK, so remind us again what the issue is at stake here. What are Texas Republicans trying to do?
GAINEY: Yeah. I mean, Texas Republicans want more seats in Congress. Right now, there are 38 congressional districts in Texas. Twenty-five are held by Republicans. And Republicans are trying to redraw the districts based on how people have voted in the past to give their party an edge and at least five more seats. Republicans say this is legal. They note that Democrats have done it in other states in the past. But usually, states do redistricting at the start of the decade when the national census count comes in.
Democrats say these maps that Republicans have drawn weakens the vote of Black and Latino voters in ways that are illegal, and they will challenge in court. Republican lawmakers aim to vote in favor of this plan today and then in Senate tomorrow. And Governor Greg Abbott, a Trump ally, is expected to sign it when it gets to him.
MARTÍNEZ: So other states are watching Texas, especially the one state with a bigger population, Democratic-led California. So what might California do?
GAINEY: Yes, that’s correct. And, you know, this is all prompted by the movement from President Trump in Texas. Several other states are talking about mid-decade redistricting right now. The main one, as you said, California – they are directly to counter Texas. Democrats in the California Legislature have actually drawn a map that’ll give an edge to five more Democrats next year. They plan to vote on that this week, but they are seeking approval of voters in a special election in November because unlike Texas, California law requires that an independent commission do the redistricting to take the politics out of it. Now they want voters to approve redistricting without that commission. The legislature might vote on that Thursday. But California Republicans have filed a lawsuit yesterday trying to slow that down. Now, some other Republicans and Democratic states are talking about redistricting too. But for right now, Republicans only hold the House by a few seats, so a five-seat swing either way, could really make a difference for President Trump’s agenda.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That’s Blaise Gainey of the Texas Newsroom. Blaise, thank you very much for this update.
GAINEY: Thank you.
Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
