Lawsuits are flying over Texas’s recently approved “rigged” congressional maps, intended to give President Donald Trump control of Congress in next year’s midterm elections. In the meantime, states like California and New York are doing all they can to level the playing field.
Redistricting usually happens on a decennial basis, right after the U.S. Census count. Last month, Trump demanded that Republicans produce five GOP-leaning congressional seats in Texas before the 2026 midterms by redrawing the state’s redistricting maps now. This August, Texas Democrats broke quorum and called out the new racially gerrymandered maps on a national stage, but the Texas Legislature passed the maps at the expense of Black Texans and other voters of color in the state anyway.
Thirteen local Texans swiftly filed a lawsuit, arguing that the new maps are a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
“Black voters are not a tool for legislators to use to cut up maps as they see fit. This redistricting process in Texas is a shameful power grab at the expense of Black voices,” said Legal Defense Fund (LDF) Director of Policy Demetria McCain in a statement.
“The right to fair representation and free elections is the foundation of our government. If politicians continue to chip away at the foundation of our democracy, it will crumble atop our heads,” McCain said. “We must raise our voices against redistricting efforts that harm the political power of Black Texan voters and other voters of color, and that risk further damage to those communities.”
New York congressmembers, including House Democratic Leader and Congressmember Hakeem Jeffries, wrote a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul and their State Legislature, asserting that the maps in Texas, as well as Trump’s actions, are an “assault on the Voting Rights Act of 1965” and an insidious effort to disenfranchise millions of people. They also pointed out that the U.S Court of Appeals has attempted to eliminate the ability of individual voters to challenge voting rights violations.
“I’ve been in touch, of course, with Governor Kathy Hochul, as well as the legislative leaders,” said Jeffries in his most recent CNN interview. “House Democrats are going to respond from coast to coast and at all points in between, as has been done in California, forcefully, immediately, and appropriately, to make sure that Donald Trump cannot steal the midterm elections.”
They called for the state to strengthen the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York 2022 (NYVRA) to protect free and fair elections.
Meanwhile, California Gov. Gavin Newsom fast-tracked his own plans through an independent commission to redraw their congressional maps, aimed at adding five Democratic congressional seats, in response to Texas.
“This is not about parties. It’s not about … redistricting lines. It’s about holding the line. It’s about protecting all of us, regardless of political party. It’s about power at the end of the day,” said Newsom. “The rule of Don versus the rule of law. It has never been more clear, vivid, what’s at stake.”
Newsom also signed the Election Rigging Response Act (Proposition 50), a ballot measure for residents to vote on in November’s general election. The act is a package of bills allowing Californians the ability to adopt a new and temporary Congressional map, and establishing a statewide special election to vote on the ballot.
Trump has vowed to sue Newsom over Prop 50.
“We believe in a just and fair game. Democrats have supported in Congress, over and over again, federal laws to ensure nonpartisan gerrymandering, but if Donald Trump is going to enter this basketball game and foul over and over again, then we’re going to fight fire with fire,” said U.S Senator Cory Booker on a virtual press call organized by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) on August 20.
“This is not just a California fight. What Californians decide to do in the coming weeks and months will determine which way our nation goes,” continued Booker. “Will we go to the low road, back to the quicksand that seem to swallow up our democratic ideals, or will we be like my grandparents’ generation and my parents’ generation, the civil rights generation that decided in those dark days to be the light and to help guide this nation forward — to not just justice for African Americans, but really justice for all.”
During the press call, Texas State Rep. Nicole Collier was kicked off and threatened with a felony charge.
“I became a Texas representative because the people of Texas deserve a fighter. They’ve asked me to be their voice in Austin, and I’ve earned their trust over these six legislative sessions to come back and to fight for them,” she said. “My will to do that has not only strengthened, and I don’t take my oath lightly. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let some Republican use these petty intimidation tactics to silence the voice of my voters. They sent me here to fight, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Texas Dems have launched a long-term statewide strategy, called Blue Texas, that aims to have 270 Electoral College votes and a Senate majority by 2032.