A Republican bid to approve new congressional maps in Texas cleared a major hurdle on Wednesday as the state House of Representatives advanced the legislation in a procedural vote.
The new maps, which would create five new GOP districts to “enhance” Republican performance in the 2026 midterm elections, advanced 88-52 with a final vote expected later on Wednesday. The legislation would then head to the state Senate as Texas, controlled by Republicans, makes an aggressive bid to protect the party’s delicate majority in the U.S. House.
The effort is backed by the White House and President Donald Trump, who is looking to maintain a GOP trifecta in Washington for the final two years of his term, but has been fiercely opposed by Democrats who delayed a special legislative session by fleeing Texas for two weeks.
The maps are similar but slightly altered compared to the ones passed by the House’s redistricting committee earlier this month, before a majority of the chamber’s Democrats walked out and delayed voting procedures on the new maps. Most returned to the state capital on Monday for the legislature’s second special session, after the first concluded Friday.
It is unclear whether the mid-decade redistricting effort will be wrapped up by the end of this week, though a vote in the Senate is expected to pass smoothly. The upper chamber’s redistricting committee voted 6-3 to advance its version of the legislation on Sunday.
The Texas GOP’s effort has launched a national redistricting war, with California preparing for a Nov. 4 special election that would allow Democrats to redraw the state’s maps to offset the new GOP seats created in Texas.
Democrats have accused Republicans of disenfranchising voters and rigging the districts because they are afraid they will not keep the majority in the U.S. House next fall. Republicans, in turn, say Texas law allows for the legislature to make these changes, while states like California cannot circumvent the independent commissions approved by voters and used for redistricting.
Dozens of Texas Democrats fled the state and met with Democratic governors and leaders across the country to call attention to the Republican redistricting “sham” in the Lone Star State. In response, arrest warrants were issued demanding their return, though the warrants were largely symbolic as they only applied within state lines, and the absent Democrats were in states like Illinois and California.
HOUSE PREPARES FOR FUNDING DEADLINE AS PARTIES WAR OVER EPSTEIN, REDISTRICTING, AND DC TAKEOVER
After a majority of the Democrats returned to the chamber on Monday, Speaker Dustin Burrows allowed lawmakers who were absent for the first special session to leave only if they were in the custody of a state Department of Public Safety officer.
One Texas Democrat, state Rep. Nicole Collier, refused to sign off on a DPS escort and remained in the chamber until it reconvened on Wednesday.
