Texas Republicans Advance Trump-Backed Plan 'to Rig Our Elections'

The GOP-controlled Texas House of Representatives voted Wednesday in favor of a plan pushed by US President Donald Trump to redraw the state's congressional map to create five new Republican districts ahead of next year's midterm elections.

Following seven hours of debate, Texas state lawmakers voted 88-52 to approve a rare mid-decade gerrymandering—redistricting typically occurs after the decennial census—urged by Trump as Republicans cling to just a three-vote margin of power in the US House of Representatives.

While the Republican Party of Texas hailed the House's approval what it called the "Big, Beautiful Map," the Texas Democratic Party lamented that, "at Trump's request, Texas Republicans voted to rig our elections."

"These maps drag us back to the 1950s, stripping minority communities of fair representation. Authoritarianism is here—and we're going to keep fighting like hell for our state and country," the party added.

Wednesday's vote followed a standoff between Texas Democrats who fled the state for two weeks to thwart a vote on the measure and their Republican colleagues, whose congressional allies asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation to help track down the absconding Democrats and force them back to Austin.

Such an outcome was avoided when the Democratic lawmakers returned to Texas of their own volition. However, the drama didn't end there, as House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R-83) informed the returning Democrats that they could not leave the Texas Capitol building without a law enforcement escort. On Monday, Rep. Nicole Collier (D-95)—who was forced to sleep in the Capitol—filed a lawsuit challenging the Legislature's authority to place lawmakers under police surveillance.

Democracy defenders decried Wednesday's vote, which sends the gerrymandering plan to the state Senate, where it is expected to pass during a Thursday evening session.

"Let's be clear: Today's vote on new congressional maps is nothing more than Texas Republicans openly colluding with President Trump to strip everyday Texans of their voice and representation in government and ensure political gain in the 2026 midterm elections," Taifa Smith Butler, president of the pro-democracy group Dēmos Action, said in a statement.

"Their extreme, divisive, and unprecedented actions have no place in our democracy and should be condemned by all," Smith Butler asserted. "These tactics, likely to spark copycat actions all around the country, should be called out and exposed for the malfeasance, corruption, and theft of the people's choice that they are."

Brett Edkins, managing director of policy and political affairs at Stand Up America, said the Texas GOP plan "isn't about fair representation, it's about entrenching Republican control for a generation and silencing Texans of color."

"It's a blatant attempt by Donald Trump, [Texas Gov. Greg] Abbott, and congressional Republicans to dodge accountability in the midterms for the fallout of their billionaire tax handouts paid for by cuts to Medicaid and other programs Texans rely on," he continued.

"Republican lawmakers in Texas should be ashamed," Edkins added. "They are to blame for the gerrymandering arms race that we will now see across the country."

Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said: "The Trump gerrymander push is authoritarian, anti-democratic, and yet another tell of a wannabe dictator. We watch Texas today with the clear understanding that this is not an isolated push, but the beginning of a national power grab across multiple states to try and impact the 2026 midterm."

"The immediate impacts in Texas—depriving voters of fair representation, and the disparate impact on voters of color, as districts with majority or large populations of voters of color are broken up—will be mirrored throughout the nation," Gilbert added. "We cannot allow this to proceed. And if needed, California and other states must make offsetting gerrymanders of their own."

Republicans are also weighing plans for congressional redistricting in other states—including Florida, Indiana, Missouri, and Ohio—ahead of next year's midterm elections.

Governors and lawmakers in some Democrat-controlled states have vowed to respond in kind, with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul saying earlier this month that members of her party should "fight fire with fire." The office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom also announced last week that it would proceed with plans for retaliatory redistricting, starting with a special November ballot initiative.

Dēmos Action's Smith Butler also took aim at Republicans' treatment of Collier.

"It is nothing short of a disgrace that Republicans would escalate their reprehensible, anti-democratic actions even further by confining [Collier] in the Capitol," she wrote. "They are weaponizing law enforcement to silence and intimidate Collier, a Black woman leader fighting for her constituents, namely Black and brown voters whose political power is being erased."

"This is not just about intimidating or attacking one legislator; it is a blatant effort to curb Black political power, dismantle democracy, and silence every Texan who believes in justice," Smith Butler added. "Texas Republicans are pushing an extreme mid-decade redistricting that would entrench power at the expense of Black and Latino voters. We must defend Rep. Collier and her constituents, and reject these racist, authoritarian tactics."