What happened
The Texas House Wednesday approved a new congressional map aimed at flipping up to five Democratic-held seats to Republican control. The 88-52 party-line vote followed a Democratic walkout that delayed passage of the contentious changes by two weeks. After the Democratic lawmakers returned to Austin on Monday, their GOP colleagues allowed them to leave the House only if they agreed to around-the-clock police escorts; some Democrats refused and slept in the chamber.
Who said what
Texas Republicans are "pursuing the unusual mid-decade redistricting" push "amid pressure" from President Donald Trump "to protect the GOP's slim majority in Congress" in the 2026 midterms, The Texas Tribune said. The new "aggressively partisan" map gives Trump the "gerrymander he requested," The New York Times said, but it also "set off a redistricting fever" that spread first to California but could infect another half-dozen states.
The California Supreme Court Wednesday denied an emergency petition from Republicans to halt Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D) countervailing push to temporarily redraw his map's state to flip five GOP-held seats. Former President Barack Obama, a critic of gerrymandering, said Tuesday he approved of Newsom's "smart, measured" and "responsible" response to the GOP's attempt to "rig the game."
What next?
California lawmakers are expected to approve their new map today, sending it to a public referendum in November. The path is "far simpler" for Texas Republicans, "despite sustained Democratic opposition," the Times said. The state Senate will likely clear the Texas map today and "send it by the end of the week to Gov. Greg Abbott for his promised signature."
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