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Texas Republicans would create five House seats that President Donald Trump carried by 10 or more points in November through a redrawn Congressional map to be released Wednesday, according to a person close to the process who was granted anonymity to discuss a map not yet public.
Four of the GOP’s pickup opportunities reside in majority-Hispanic districts.
The new map — created at Trump’s urging — stands to upend the midterms next year and give Republicans an opportunity to cling to their razor-thin House majority. The GOP’s success depends on the party maintaining its gains among Hispanic voters, a demographic shift that helped Trump reclaim the White House.
The 30 -day special session called by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is scheduled to end on Aug. 19, which gives state lawmakers a few weeks to finish the process.
Congressional maps are redesigned at least once a decade, in response to the U.S. Census in what is typically a politically rife process. Ohio is also redrawing its maps ahead of 2026, and Democrats across the country are mulling ways to fight this existential threat as they grasp for control over the House next year.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies will be in Austin on Wednesday to meet with Democratic Texas lawmakers to discuss how to respond to the GOP‘s redistricting project. Democrats are debating walking out of the 30-day special session, which would deny Republicans the quorum necessary to approve the maps.
Though incumbent-versus-incumbent battles are often a result of redistricting, the person said the pending map is not expected to create any Republican primaries. The person added that the new map creates smaller geographical districts and splits fewer counties than the one in place.
Republicans are expected to reveal the Congressional lines as early as Wednesday afternoon. Trump would have carried three of the new GOP districts by 10 points, and the other two by more than 15, the person said.
Democratic governors are also threatening their own mid-cycle efforts, which they have promised to carry out if Texas pushes forward. California and New York are the states most likely to take action, but they face legal and political obstacles. Democrats are expected to mount legal challenges once the legislature approves the new map, and the party is already working to raise funds to combat the process.
So far the House Majority PAC — the leading fundraising arm for Congressional Democrats — has committed to spend $20 million fighting the effort and former President Barack Obama is headlining a fundraiser next month in Martha’s Vineyard alongside his former attorney general, Eric Holder, to defeat the GOP’s redistricting plans.
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