Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday signed into law a new congressional map aimed at expanding Republican power in the 2026 midterm elections, handing President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) another win in their push to secure a GOP majority.
“Texas is now more red in the United States Congress,” Abbott declared in a video on X as he signed the legislation, The Washington Times reported.
The rare mid-decade redistricting, driven by Trump and the Texas GOP, drew fierce protests from Democrats and immediate legal challenges. Voting rights groups filed suit this week, arguing the new lines weaken the electoral influence of black voters.
Texas Democrats also vowed to challenge the map in court, staging a two-week walkout earlier this month before returning under round-the-clock police monitoring to ensure they appeared for debate.
Despite the protest, Republicans’ large legislative majority made passage inevitable.
Democrats blasted the move as political subservience to Trump.
“They love to boast about how ‘Texas Tough’ they are, but when Donald Trump made one call, they bent over backwards to prioritize his politics over Texans,” state Democratic Party Chairman Kendall Scudder said. “Honestly, it’s pathetic.”
The fight has already reshaped next year’s midterms. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, the longest-serving Democrat in Texas’ delegation, said he would not seek reelection if the new map takes effect. His Austin-based district is slated to be merged with that of fellow Democrat Rep. Greg Casar.
The redistricting battle has also spilled into other states. Before Texas acted, California passed legislation to put new Democratic-leaning districts on the ballot to blunt potential Republican gains. Gov. Gavin Newsom mocked Abbott as Trump’s “#1 lapdog” after the signing.
Trump is pushing GOP legislatures elsewhere to follow Texas’ lead. Indiana Republican leaders met with him in the Oval Office this week to discuss new maps. Also, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe has called a special session to consider redrawing congressional districts, while Democrats in Ohio expect Republicans to move soon on their own map overhaul.
Democrats in New York have introduced legislation allowing mid-decade redistricting, but the earliest new lines there would not take effect until the 2028 elections.
The Supreme Court has upheld partisan gerrymandering as legal, leaving opponents with only one potential path to block the Texas map: proving in court that it violates the Voting Rights Act by splitting minority communities. Republicans have denied racial discrimination and argued the map actually creates more majority-minority seats than before — even as they acknowledge the goal is to secure more Republican seats.
Texas Democratic lawmakers announced two weeks ago that they had returned to the state after a two-week walkout that temporarily blocked Republican leaders from advancing a redistricting plan aimed at boosting their party’s majority in the U.S. House, a move that ignited a national political showdown.
The Democrats ended their standoff after successfully preventing Texas Republicans from passing a new congressional map during the first special legislative session, while California Democrats responded with a counterproposal of their own.
However, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has since called a second special session, and with enough Democratic members now back in Texas, the GOP-controlled Legislature is positioned to move forward with its redrawn map.
“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,” Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu said in a statement, according to NBC News.
“We’re returning to Texas more dangerous to Republicans’ plans than when we left. Our return allows us to build the legal record necessary to defeat this racist map in court, take our message to communities across the state and country, and inspire how to fight these undemocratic redistricting schemes in their own statehouses,” he added.