Texas Republicans' Plan to Redraw the Political Map

Texas Republicans have a plan to change the state's political boundaries. They aim to gain five more seats in the House of Representatives. The new map would turn three Democratic districts into Republican strongholds.

These districts voted for Kamala Harris in the last election, but under the new plan, they would have voted for Donald Trump by a large margin.

Impact on Current Representatives

• Two Democrats currently represent districts that voted for Trump.
• The new map would make these districts even more Republican.
• No competitive districts would remain in Texas, meaning the presidential race would be decided by a large margin in every district.

Potential Gains and Challenges

If the plan goes through, Republicans would likely gain three seats. However, Democrats could hold onto two seats in South Texas.

• Cuellar, one of the Democrats in South Texas, has a better chance of winning re-election.
• Won his district by five points last year, despite Trump winning the district by seven points.
• Under the new map, Trump's margin would increase to ten points, making it more difficult for Cuellar to win.

• However, Cuellar's performance suggests he can still be competitive.

• Gonzalez, the other Democrat in South Texas, won his district by three points last year.
• Trump won the district by four points.
• Under the new map, Trump's margin would increase to ten points, making it more difficult for Gonzalez to win.
• If the political environment is favorable for Democrats, Gonzalez could still be competitive.

National Implications

• Nationally, Texas Republicans' plan would increase the number of Democrats representing districts that voted for Trump to 16.
• With Ohio Republicans poised to redraw their own congressional lines, this number could rise to 18 or 19.
• These added pick-up opportunities are crucial to the GOP's chance of holding the House.
• A net-loss of just three seats would hand control to Democrats.

Legislative Developments

• Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows quickly gaveled the chamber in and out of session today, lacking the minimum number of state lawmakers to move on to regular business after dozens of Democrats fled the state.
• Appearing alongside Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and a group of Texas House Democrats, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said that his party is “not rolling over” to Trump and bringing “a knife to a knife fight.”
• Pritzker said he would consider calling a special session to reopen Illinois’ congressional maps, where Democrats already control 14 of 17 seats.
• GOP Sen. John Cornyn is urging the FBI to assist Texas law enforcement agencies in finding or arresting Democratic legislators who left the state.
• Some Republicans representing competitive districts in blue states are speaking out against their party’s push to redraw congressional lines in Texas.