Texas Republicans were evasive Thursday about a request from the White House to redistrict the state ahead of the 2026 midterm elections after exiting a meeting in Washington to discuss the proposal.
President Donald Trump’s political team is pushing lawmakers to redraw Texas’ congressional districts to help Republicans to pick up additional seats next November as they look to defend their U.S. House majority against a potential Democratic surge.
“I’m sworn to secrecy,” said U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Houston, after the gathering of Texas U.S. House members Thursday.
“I forgot everything that was said in there,” said U.S. Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Frisco.
But behind the scenes, many Texas Republicans are concerned the strategy could put incumbents at risk, opening the door for Democrats to gain more ground.
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Back in Texas, state legislators are worried if they go ahead with redrawing congressional districts, their districts could be drawn in as well.
Right now, the state is in its third week of a federal trial in El Paso defending GOP lawmakers’ last redistricting effort in 2023, which civil rights groups claim intentionally diluted Hispanic voting power in violation of federal voter rights law. Even though Latinos drove the state’s population growth over recent years, the Legislature drew fewer majority Hispanic districts for Congress and the Legislature, according to court filings.
If lawmakers reopen the redistricting process this year, the judges hearing the case could potentially push them to redraw the state-level maps too. Even with those risks, Republican leaders in Texas may be reluctant to defy Trump, especially if his administration is pushing hard for the changes.
See here and here for the background. Greg Abbott also had a nothing quote in the story in response to a question about calling a special session, which he would have to do to make this happen. I can’t tell if everyone is being coy or if they just don’t have anything to say because there’s not an actual plan or proposed map, just some aggro BS from the White House. I’m also not sure what to make of the “behind the scenes” and “state legislators are worried” bits, as there are no quotes, not even anonymous quotes, associated with them. I just don’t know how seriously to take any of this. I don’t doubt that they could do it, they have no restraint or principles to hold them back. I do think they need to be convinced since it would be a significant change and some level of risk to themselves, and I think they haven’t gotten anything serious from the White House yet. If that changes, everything else could also change. We’ll see.