HOUSTON — When the special session kicks off on Monday, July 21, lawmakers will immediately begin tackling flood-related legislation in the aftermath of the tragic July 4 Hill Country flooding.
And that could very well be the last time bipartisanship is alive inside the Texas Capitol during the special.
The 18-item agenda is littered with issues that have long divided Democrats and Republicans, with none more controversial than proposed, mid-decade Congressional redistricting.
President Donald Trump has said he wants five new Republican-held Congressional seats in Texas, and it can be done by simply redrawing the state’s political map.
Texas Republicans seem more than willing to oblige, despite some risk.
One of the seats the GOP could target is the 7th Congressional District in Houston, held by Democratic Rep. Lizzie Fletcher.
Since Democrats aren’t in power in Texas, and haven’t been for decades, we asked Congresswoman Fletcher what her party could do to stop redistricting.
“I think one of the most important things we can do is make sure that people know that this is happening,” the Democrat told us on Inside Texas Politics. “The Governor just announced this effort to redraw these districts last week and he’s done so while people across our state are recovering and grieving from these devastating floods in the Hill Country.”
The Congresswoman says she’s having many conversations with important stakeholders — lawmakers and constituents included.
And she says many folks living inside districts that are in the GOP crosshairs are outraged. In Houston, for example, a “day of protest” is scheduled for July 19 in districts throughout that city.
Fletcher is also the chair of the Texas Democratic Delegation. And she tells us the talk among that group is to expect more of these redistricting efforts in the future.
“Part of the chatter, and part of why this is so important, is because this is just the first state we know they’re going to. They’re coming to Texas. They’re trying to do this. Texas is a testing ground for a lot of, frankly, bad ideas when it comes to Republican legislation,” the Democrat argued.
Redistricting usually occurs at the start of a decade when new census data is released. Changing the map mid-decade is unusual but has been done before. Part of the risk is that old data is being used to carve out new districts, which can backfire on the party changing the maps.
Texas’ political map just changed in 2021, delayed in part by COVID.
At that time, Texas Republicans wanted to solidify their gains. The state also added two Congressional seats because of population growth, and Republicans wanted to make sure the GOP held them. Republicans have won 25 of 38 congressional seats since.
But that map has also been challenged in court, with plaintiffs arguing that it discriminates against Black and Hispanic voters. That trial just ended in May but has yet to be decided.
Some political experts say that case may now become moot if Texas changes its map once again.
In additional to Fletcher’s seat, some of the other districts that could be targeted by Republicans include two in south Texas: Congressman Henry Cuellar in the 28th District and Congressman Vicente Gonzales in the 34th.
In the Houston area, there’s been talk about Congressman Al Green’s 9th District, or even the 18th Congressional District, which was held by Sylvester Turner until his death in March. A special election to fill that seat will be held in November.
In North Texas, the redistricting discussion appears to center around Congressman Marc Veasey’s 33rd District, or U.S. Representative Julie Johnson’s 32nd District.
Fletcher says she doesn’t know who might be most vulnerable. She doesn’t think anybody knows that.
But the Democrat says Republicans are trying to change the map because they can’t win on their policies and the issues alone.
“This isn’t about any one Representative, or any one district. This is about the voters. This is about the people who elect those members. And this is about taking away their ability to feel and to believe and, truly, to make sure that their vote counts,” she argued.