Texas Republicans are trying to rig the map for the next election

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott called a special session of the state legislature on Wednesday to demand the GOP-controlled body redraw the state's congressional districts, an effort to gerrymander the state to try to squeeze out more seats for Republicans in the 2026 midterms.

Abbott called the special session because President Donald Trump wants Texas Republicans to rig the map for the GOP to try to offset potential Republican losses next November, when Republicans could lose control of their three-seat House majority. Political analysts say that under the current congressional maps, Democrats are favored to win control of the House in 2026.

Knowing that Democratic House control would end Trump’s legislative agenda and allow Democrats to investigate his corrupt business dealings and administration, Trump is desperately trying to prevent that from happening by getting Texas and Ohio to be "ruthless" and make their state congressional districts even more heavily Republican gerrymanders.

Texas was the first state to bite, after Abbott called the special session. Abbott cited a letter Trump’s Department of Justice sent purporting to say that several Democratic-held Texas congressional districts "constitute unconstitutional racial gerrymanders" and should be redrawn. But that's obviously just a ruse to give Republicans an excuse to redraw the congressional districts to give Republicans an edge.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/7/10/2332652/-Texas-Republicans-are-trying-to-rig-the-map-for-the-next-election

[msongs]

1. one recommends dems do the same thing where possible. too bad some dems states are losing seats nt

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. Republicans are trying to further gerrymander a state that already has districts that look like this:

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. Texas Redistricting-As a voting rights volunteer, I was amused to learn a new term "dummymander"

I have been volunteering on voting rights/voter protection since 2004 when I went to Florida as part of the Kerry Edwards voter protection team. I have testified before committees of both the Texas House and Senate on gerrymandered districts. Part of my testimony was used in a prior lawsuit that unfortunately failed. Texas is heavily gerrymandered. My congressional district went from a R+1 to a R+21 as part of the last gerrymander. trump wants Ohio and Texas to re-gerrymander their districts to help in the midterms. I was amused to see that these efforts run a risk of failing

Republicans run a risky strategy for holding the House that rests on redrawn maps
www.politico.com/news/2025/07...

— David Darmofal (@daviddarmofal.bsky.social) 2025-07-11T18:40:41.292Z

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/11/texas-redistricting-00448145

But in Texas, Republicans are in danger of creating a so-called dummymander, whereby an attempt to draw more seats for one party accidentally benefits the other. Texas’ congressional map already heavily favors the GOP, so any changes to further benefit the party would have to walk a careful line. Adding Republican voters to blue districts to reduce Democrats’ margins means taking those same voters out of the red districts where they reside. The result is more competitive districts across the board — ones Democrats hope to take advantage of as they harness anti-Trump energy in the midterms.

“They are playing a little bit of roulette with these maps,” said Rep. Julie Johnson (D-Texas). “In a wave election like what we have a potential opportunity for in ‘26 I think it makes these Republicans very vulnerable.”

Texas has 38 House seats, with 25 held by Republicans. Members of the state’s Democratic delegation huddled with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as the redistricting talk ramped up, with follow-up meetings planned.

Jeffries warned in a statement Wednesday that an aggressive map could “result in making several incumbent House Republicans vulnerable to fierce general election challenges.”

“Republicans are cutting off their nose to spite their face,” he added.....

Democrats are almost certain to sue over whatever new maps are created in both Ohio and Texas, said John Bisognano, president of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.

“I imagine we will have a lot to say about the map they create and the legalities of it,” he said Thursday.

On top of everything else, there is a trial going on with respect to the Texas maps that these efforts may affect.

This will be fun to watch