Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s signature on a sweeping new congressional map has ignited a nationwide political brawl, setting the stage for a fierce midterm showdown in 2026. The move, made on August 29, 2025, comes at the behest of President Donald Trump and aims to flip five U.S. House seats from Democrats to Republicans—a rare mid-decade redistricting that’s already reverberating far beyond the Lone Star State, according to reporting from Axios, AFP, and the Associated Press.
Abbott, flanked by state and national Republican leaders, declared in a video posted to social media, “Texas is now more red in the United States Congress.” He added, “This map ensures fairer representation in Congress for Texans.” The new map, which would shift Texas’ 38-member congressional delegation from 25 Republicans, 12 Democrats, and one vacant seat to an expected 30 Republicans and 8 Democrats, was drafted with a clear goal: bolster GOP chances of holding the House during the second half of Trump’s term.
The process was anything but smooth. For two weeks, more than 50 Texas House Democrats fled the state, denying Republicans the legislative quorum needed to pass the bill. Their walkout delayed the vote, while in the Senate, Republicans blocked a planned Democratic filibuster. The drama drew national attention, and as Axios noted, “The Democrats' walkout sparked a national frenzy—and now California Democrats are advancing a mid-decade map, escalating the partisan race over control of Congress.”
The Texas map is already reshaping the political landscape for 2026. Veteran Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett, the dean of the state’s congressional delegation, announced he would not seek reelection if the new map takes effect. Doggett’s Austin-based district would now overlap with that of another Democratic incumbent, Rep. Greg Casar, potentially ending Doggett’s 52-year political career. He said he would step aside for Casar in the 2026 primary, a move that underscores the high stakes and personal cost of the redistricting fight.
Democrats and civil rights groups have wasted no time in mounting legal challenges. Two lawsuits, including one filed by the NAACP and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, allege that the new map weakens the electoral influence of Black and Latino voters. The legal complaints argue the map violates federal law by diluting minority voting power and discriminating based on race. As AFP reported, “Democrats argued that the new Texas map violates federal law by diluting Hispanic and Black voting power and discriminating based on race.”
Republicans, for their part, insist the map was drawn based on voting history rather than race. Citing U.S. Supreme Court precedent, Texas Republicans argue that the new map is about increasing political power, not racial discrimination. Yet, critics point to the mechanics of the map: four of the five districts newly drawn to be winnable for the GOP include significant populations of non-citizens—people counted for the purposes of redistricting but who cannot actually vote. This, Democrats say, pads Republican districts while further diluting actual voter power in Democratic strongholds.
The changes are especially pronounced in Houston, Austin, and Dallas, where Democratic-leaning districts have been eliminated, and in South Texas, where more Republican voters have been moved into two Democratic-held seats. These shifts, according to AFP and Axios, are already poised to have outsized impacts in Congress.
The partisan tug-of-war is not limited to Texas. California, led by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, has responded in kind. The California legislature approved a redistricting plan last week aimed at giving Democrats five more congressional seats—a direct counter to Texas’s move. Newsom’s plan, however, requires voter approval in a statewide referendum this November. Republicans in California have already filed lawsuits to block the plan, mirroring the legal battles unfolding in Texas.
Newsom, who has emerged as a leading adversary of Trump on redistricting and other issues, did not mince words. On social media, he taunted Abbott as Trump’s “#1 lapdog,” a sentiment echoed across Democratic circles. “Congratulations on your new position as Trump’s #1 lapdog, I know you worked hard for it!” Newsom wrote on X on August 29, 2025.
The redistricting fever is spreading. Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe, a Republican, announced on August 29 a special session beginning September 3 to redraw Missouri’s U.S. House districts. Missouri would become the third state to pursue a mid-decade redistricting for partisan advantage, joining Texas and California. Republicans in Ohio, Florida, Indiana, and elsewhere are also considering revising their U.S. House districts, while Democrats in Illinois, Maryland, and New York are weighing similar moves. In Utah, a judge recently ordered the Republican-led legislature to redraw congressional districts after finding lawmakers had ignored an independent commission established by voters to prevent partisan gerrymandering.
These state-level efforts are driven by a razor-thin margin in the U.S. House. Republicans currently hold a 220-215 majority, according to a recent AP analysis. With Democrats needing to net just three seats in next year’s election to take control, every district counts. The incumbent president’s party often loses seats in midterms—a fate that befell Trump in 2018, when Democrats won the House and launched investigations into his administration. Seeking to avoid a repeat, Trump has urged Republican-led states to shore up their congressional delegations.
The partisan warfare over redistricting has alarmed many Americans. A Reuters/Ipsos poll published in late August 2025 found that most Americans believe gerrymandering—redrawing congressional lines for political gain—is bad for democracy. The poll’s findings underscore the broad public unease with the current state of American politics, where both parties are increasingly willing to use every tool at their disposal to tilt the playing field.
Texas Democrats have not minced words in their criticism. State Democratic Party Chairman Kendall Scudder said, “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. Honestly, it’s pathetic.” In a separate statement, Scudder added, “With a stroke of the pen, Greg Abbott and the Republicans have effectively surrendered Texas to Washington, DC. This isn’t over—we’ll see these clowns in court. We aren’t done fighting against these racially discriminatory maps, and fully expect the letter of the law to prevail over these sycophantic Republican politicians who think the rules don’t apply to them.”
Republicans, meanwhile, have framed the redistricting as necessary to ensure fairer representation and to reflect the state’s shifting political landscape. Abbott, in his video message, doubled down: “The one, big beautiful map ... ensures fairer representation in the United States Congress for Texans.”
As the legal battles begin and other states jump into the fray, the outcome of this redistricting war could shape the balance of power in Washington for years to come. For now, Texas stands at the epicenter of a national fight over the future of American democracy—a battle where every line on the map could tip the scales.
