Texas Republicans unveiled a new congressional map on Wednesday that would provide their party with five new red-leaning districts, a plan that — if enacted — could provide a boost to the party as it tries to cling to control of the House.
The redraw would significantly benefit Republicans by making districts held by Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez, who both represent heavily-Latino areas of the Rio Grande Valley, redder, and make some Democratic-controlled districts even bluer in an attempt to create GOP-leaning districts elsewhere. The proposed map would also put a number of Republican and Democratic incumbents in the same district.
It only sets up one primary matchup between Democratic Reps. Greg Casar and Lloyd Doggett, avoiding any messy GOP primary fights between incumbents.
Under the new map, six districts do not currently have an incumbent, according to data released by the Texas legislature, leaving both parties with a rushed recruitment process as they charge toward 2026.
Four of the GOP’s pickup opportunities reside in majority-Hispanic districts.
Under the new map, Republicans are eyeing earning 30 seats in Congress — from their current 25 — partly by moving Cuellar and Gonzalez into districts Trump won by double digits. The proposal would also remove three Democratic-held seats in Houston, San Antonio and Dallas and create new districts that are potential Republican pickup opportunities.
For instance, Rep. Al Green’s Ninth Congressional District in Houston would now be combined with the vacant 18th Congressional District to form a 61 percent Hispanic district in eastern Harris County, one that Trump would have won by 15 points.
But some of these incumbents are well known in the state, and may well hang on even with redrawn lines.
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. The new map will get a committee hearing on Friday.
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.
Under the new map, Trump would have carried three of the new GOP districts by 10 points, and the other two by more than 15, according to a person close to the process, granted anonymity to discuss the decision making process.
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.
