Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a mid-decade congressional map intended to help Republicans win more seats in the 2026 midterm elections, strengthening the GOP's position and aligning with President Trump's interest in retaining a slim House majority. The redistricting prompted fierce Democratic protests, including lawmakers fleeing the state and later facing round-the-clock police monitoring to compel attendance. California moved to ask voters to approve Democratic-leaning districts in response. Legal challenges are expected; with the Supreme Court permitting partisan gerrymandering, opponents must argue the map violates the Voting Rights Act by diluting minority communities' ability to elect preferred representatives. Republican leaders deny racial discrimination and assert the map creates more majority-minority districts.
AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday signed into law a new congressional voting map designed to help Republicans gain more seats in the 2026 midterm elections, delivering a win for President Donald Trump and his desire to hold onto a slim GOP majority in the U.S. House. The Texas map drafted in rare mid-decade redistricting prompted fierce protests from Democrats and sparked a gerrymandering tug-of-war for voters in states across the country.
Texas Democrats have vowed to challenge the new map in court. They delayed a vote in the state House by two weeks by fleeing Texas in July in protest and to rally support nationally. And they were assigned round-the-clock police monitoring upon their return to ensure they attended Wednesday's session. But the large Republican majority in the Texas Legislature made its ultimate passage all but inevitable.
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. Republican leaders have denied the map is racially discriminatory and contend the new map creates more new majority-minority seats than the previous one.
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