House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries will meet with Democrats in Texas on Wednesday, his office told POLITICO on Tuesday.
The move comes as President Donald Trump urges lawmakers to redraw the state’s congressional map in Republicans’ favor. Texas typically redraws its congressional maps every 10 years in accordance with the census.
But the president announced this month that he hopes redistricting could give Republicans five more House seats.
“There could be some other states we’re going to get another three, or four or five in addition. Texas would be the biggest one.” he said on July 15. “Just a simple redrawing we pick up five seats.”
Democrats — who hold only 12 of the state’s 38 congressional seats — are aware the redistricting hurts their chances of reclaiming a House majority.
Democrats have been pondering ways to fight back, including through a quorum break, which would see the required number of members refusing to attend the special session needed to pass the new map. But Democrats who flee the state would incur $500 fine per day and the possibility of arrest.
Democratic Rep. Al Green, who represents the state’s 9th Congressional District and who will meet Jeffries in Austin on Wednesday, said the minority leader’s visit could help “inspire” voters to get involved.
“We understand that this is all hands on deck for us in the Democratic Party,” Green told POLITICO. “This is not just about Texas. … They will take this to other places. ”
Green added that if the redistricting goes through, it could keep minority candidates from Congress.
“This is racism,” Green said, pointing out that the four districts targeted all elected people of color.
Jeffries’ visit to the state comes as a recent Democratic poll indicates the redistricting could spell trouble for Republicans in 2026, with 63 percent of likely voters across 22 of Texas’ congressional districts saying redrawing the state’s congressional map is unnecessary. Forty-one percent of Republicans think the effort to draw new lines in the GOP’s favor is unnecessary.
Still, the Texas Republican Party said redistricting is “an essential step to preserving GOP control in Congress and advancing the President Trump’s America First agenda.”
