By Lauren Burke
Republicans in Texas, on orders from President Donald Trump, are now closer to approving a new congressional map that would eliminate five seats’ Democrats have won over several cycles. The hyper-partisan move is designed to assist Democrats in boosting their chances in the midterm elections in 2026, as Democrats in Texas ended a two-week boycott aimed at stalling the plan.
The Texas Republicans’ reaction to their boycott turned bizarre today as Texas Republicans who control the Texas House, led by GOP House Speaker Justin Burrows, mandated that police would escort Democrats over the next two days if they wanted to depart the Capitol. Much like the rising levels of disrespect that white Republican lawmakers in the south demonstrated in Tennessee towards Black Democrats Rep. Justin Jones and Rep. Justin Pearson in 2023, Texas Republicans appear to be operating on a level of partisanship that is racially driven — though lawmakers on the right deny it.
Texas Democrats left the state to delay the play — but not to stop it — on August 3. A disagreement emerged among the Democrats about whether to return with a segment of the group, arguing that winning national attention was the goal of their August 3 departure. Other Democrats in the Texas House regard the moment as a loss and say that a “moral victory” is not satisfactory.
“We killed the corrupt special session, withstood unprecedented surveillance and intimidation, and rallied Democrats nationwide to join this existential fight for fair representation — reshaping the entire 2026 landscape,” said Texas Rep. Gene Wu, Chairman of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, in a statement on August 18.
After leaving Texas for two weeks to stall the Republicans’ redistricting plans, the Democrats have now returned. Their return means that Republicans can procedurally move forward with changes in congressional maps that are likely to flip and/or eliminate at least four seats now held by Democrats. They include the seats of Congressional Black Caucus members Rep. Jasmine Crockett and Marc Veasey.
Texas Republicans also moved the seat of Rep. Al Green, a Black Democrat who protested President Trump during his address to Congress on March 4, 2025, even further to the right. That change in the maps revealed on August 18 will make it even more difficult for Rep. Green to be re-elected.
Republicans are in the majority in the U.S. Congress with 219 members versus 212 Democrats. The 2026 elections in the U.S. House are all but guaranteed to be close. As President Trump’s polling numbers fall, he remains fully aware that, as Gov. Newsom put it, his “presidency is over” if Democrats win the majority in the U.S. House starting in January 2027.
The moment represents one of the most unheard-of partisan moves in modern politics. Texas Republicans are barely shielding the intended purpose of their unprecedented mid-decade redistricting. Congressional redistricting usually takes place every ten years in tandem with the annual CENSUS.
But the moves by Texas Republicans will be challenged in court. The question is, will the challenge be met with the same partisan results as the maps that have been redrawn — and if the case makes it to the U.S. Supreme Court, will they remain consistent with the previous precedents regarding racially redrawn districts?
