The House Democrats who fled Texas to block GOP redistricting appear likely to return in the coming days, according to a press release they issued Thursday.
The caucus said its members will return if Republicans follow through on their word to end the special session on Friday and California releases its own redistricting map meant to wipe out any GOP gains in Texas, which is expected Friday.
“Now, as Democrats across the nation join our fight to cause these maps to fail their political purpose, we’re prepared to bring this battle back to Texas under the right conditions and to take this fight to the courts,” said Caucus Chair Gene Wu of Houston in a statement.
At a campaign-style rally in Los Angeles, California Gov. Gavin Newsom did not produce an actual map that would yield California Democrats as many as five additional winnable seats in the U.S. House. Instead, the governor said the question allowing lawmakers to engage in mid-decade redistricting would be put to the voters on Nov. 4. Then, after the 2030 census, California would resume assigning districts through its independent commission.
“It’s not complicated. We’re doing this in reaction to a president of the United States that called a sitting governor of the state of Texas and said, ‘find me five more seats,'” Newsom said. “We’re doing it in reaction to that act.
“I know they say, Don’t Mess With Texas. Well, don’t mess with the great Golden State.”
You can see a copy of the statement here. I’m going to assume that the House adjourns sine die today, and then we’ll see what happens. California has done its part, at least as far as it can.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday his state will hold a Nov. 4 special election to seek voter approval of new congressional map drawn to try to win Democrats five more U.S. House seats in 2026.
[…]
“We can’t stand back and watch this democracy disappear district by district all across the country,” Newsom said, joined by prominent labor leaders and Democratic politicians.
California lawmakers must officially declare the special election, which they plan to do next week after voting on the new maps. Democrats hold supermajorities in both chambers, and Newsom said he’s not worried about winning the required support from two-thirds of lawmakers to advance the maps.
Democrats signaled that they plan to make the campaign about more than maps, tying it explicitly to the fate of American democracy and as an opportunity for voters to reject Trump’s policies.
“Donald Trump, you have poked the bear and we will punch back,” Newsom, who is seen as a possible 2028 presidential contender, said at a news conference with other Democrats.
[…]
The California map would take effect only a Republican state moves forward, and it would remain through the 2030 elections. After that, Democrats say they would return mapmaking power to the commission approved by voters more than a decade ago.
Based on that reporting, it may be that the Dems make their return after this vote takes place. Or maybe they show up on the first day of the second session, so as to not rack up more fines that they may or may not ever pay. I’m curious if their appearance back at the Capitol will moot the ridiculous “abandonment” lawsuit. Hard to make the case for “abandonment” if they’re right there, and I’m sure SCOTx would rather not have to make a decision if they don’t have to, but who knows. I doubt Abbott or Paxton will make the motion to dismiss themselves.
As to whether the Republicans now decide to go bigger on redistricting, including the legislative maps, who knows. I don’t expect them to be cordial in any way, but they may also just be happy to get this over with and take the win. And hey, maybe they will actually take up flooding and THC this time.
President Donald Trump’s aggressive redistricting push is sparking public concern from an unusual mix of Republicans.
Resistance to mid-decade redraws is running the ideological gamut and cutting across levels of government. While many are backing Trump’s gambit to protect the GOP’s House majority in the midterms, a growing number of Republican lawmakers are airing concerns — a list that spans lawmakers from swing districts in blue states to safe territory in ruby-red Florida.
Trump and his team have convinced once-wary Texas Republicans to draw a new House map and lobbied the GOP governors of Missouri and Indiana to at least “seriously” consider following suit, but the Republican governor of New Hampshire has ruled out pursuing any changes because “the timing is off.” And GOP state lawmakers across the country — who hold the power to redraw lines in several of the states at the forefront of what’s becoming a nationwide redistricting arms race — are finding themselves similarly split.
These strange divisions underscore the complex political dynamics of the president’s latest power play. It’s become a loyalty test that could boost Republicans’ chances of keeping their trifecta in Washington, but one that also carries significant electoral risk for several of their own members in Congress and potential for broader voter backlash.
I’m not in the business of trying to suss out what Republicans will do. Redistricting is a weird thing, there are always complicated and self-interested dynamics involved, and not every state makes it as easy to do mid-decade redistricting as Texas does. While one should never underestimate the Republican capacity to cave in to Trump, it makes sense to me that there’s no clear consensus on this from their end. Life is like that. The Trib, CBS News, KUT, and KXAN have more.