Gov. Greg Abbott made no secret about the purpose of the bill. “Texas will be more RED in Congress,” he posted on X.
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a new Republican-leaning congressional voting map Friday morning.
In a post on X, Abbott boasted that the redrawn redistricting map would turn Texas even redder.
“Today, I signed the One Big Beautiful Map into law. This map ensures fairer representation in Congress. Texas will be more RED in Congress,” the governor said.
Democrats have vowed to challenge it in court, saying the redrawn districts violate the Voting Rights Act by diluting voters’ influence based on race.
The head of Texas’ Democratic Party criticized Abbott, saying he and Republicans “effectively surrendered Texas to Washington” with the new map.
“They love to boast about how ‘Texas Tough’ they are, but when Donald Trump made one call, they bent over backwards to prioritize his politics over Texans,” state Democratic Party Chairman Kendall Scudder said in a statement. “Honestly, it’s pathetic.”
Republican leaders have denied the map is racially discriminatory and contend the new map creates more new majority-minority seats than the previous one. They have also been explicit in their desire to draw a new map for a goal of electing more Republicans.
Because the Supreme Court has blessed purely partisan gerrymandering, the only way opponents can stop the new Texas map would be by arguing in court that it violates the Voting Rights Act requirement to keep minority communities together so they can select representatives of their choice.
Redistricting drama
Dozens of Democrats left the state in a two-week walkout earlier this month in protest.
But the large Republican majority in the Texas Legislature made its ultimate passage all but inevitable. but eventually trickled back in.
As Democrats trickled back in Texas, the House approved the new maps after hours of debate.
After a last-ditch effort to delay the Senate vote with a failed filibuster, state senators gave final approval to the plan last weekend.
President Donald Trump has pushed for the map to help the GOP maintain its slim majority in Congress in the 2026 midterm elections. It has five new districts that would favor Republicans.
‘Fight fire with fire’
The redistricting drama has also spilled into blue states that are threatening to pass their own redistricting maps in an effort to counter the Texas move.
California Democrats already approved legislation calling for a special election in November for residents to vote on a redrawn congressional map designed to help Democrats win five more House seats next year. Gov. Gavin Newsom quickly signed it.
“This is not something six weeks ago that I ever imagined that I’d be doing,” Newsom said. “This is a reaction to an assault on our democracy in Texas.”
California’s map needs voter approval because, unlike in Texas, a nonpartisan commission normally draws the map to avoid the sort of political battle that is playing out.
On Friday, Abbott called California’s redistricting “a joke” and asserted that Texas’ new map is constitutional but California’s would be overturned.
On a national level, the partisan makeup of existing districts puts Democrats within three seats of a majority. The incumbent president’s party usually loses seats in the midterms.
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