Texas Republicans Drop New Congressional Map That Would Flip 5 Democrat Seats Red

Texas Republicans proposed a new congressional map Wednesday that would create five new GOP-leaning districts in a move to maintain the party’s slim House majority ahead of the 2026 midterms.

The redistricting plan targets districts in South Texas with growing Hispanic Republican support and aims to solidify the party’s slim House majority. If passed, the new lines would flip the Texas delegation from 25-13 in favor of the GOP to 30-8.

President Trump advocated for the redistricting effort earlier this month, pushing for “a very simple redrawing” to “pick up five seats.”

Under the proposal, several Democratic incumbents would have their districts carved up or eliminated. 

TEXAS GOP PROPOSE CONGRESSIONAL MAP ELIMINATING 5 DEMOCRATIC SEATS pic.twitter.com/zUgfKjHG0c

— NewsWire (@NewsWire_US) July 30, 2025

Representatives Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez, who narrowly won reelection in 2024 despite Trump carrying both districts, would see their districts redrawn to favor Republicans by 10-point margins. The map also eliminates three Democrat-held seats in San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas, replacing them with districts that Trump won by 15 or more points.

In Houston, leftist Rep. Al Green’s Ninth Congressional District would be combined with the vacant Democratic-held 18th, creating a new 61% Hispanic district further east that Trump would have carried by 15 points, according to Politico.

Cook Political Report Senior Editor & Elections Analyst Dave Wasserman identified a “clear” Republican strategy shown in the new map.

“Bottom line: it’s clear what Republicans’ strategy is here. Create as many solid Trump seats as possible while *increasing* the number of Hispanic-majority seats by population, even though Hispanic *voters* will be well south of 40% of the electorate in several of them,” Wasserman said on X.

Democrats have vowed to fight the redistricting effort on multiple fronts. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is set to meet Texas Democratic lawmakers in Austin to discuss potential responses, including the possibility of denying Republicans a quorum by walking out of the special session.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has threatened retaliatory action, suggesting he would redraw his state’s maps to counter the GOP’s Texas plan — a move that would require bypassing California’s independent redistricting commission.

“Donald Trump asks for 5 seats and Greg Abbott automatically bends the knee. The 2026 election is being rigged,” Newsom posted on X. “California won’t sit back and watch this happen.”

Vice President JD Vance responded, blasting California’s already “outrageous” gerrymander.

The gerrymander in California is outrageous. Of their 52 congressional districts, 9 of them are Republican. That means 17 percent of their delegation is Republican when Republicans regularly win 40 percent of the vote in that state.

How can this possibly be allowed?

— JD Vance (@JDVance) July 30, 2025

The Texas legislature will consider the plan during a 30-day special session ending August 19. The redistricting committee is scheduled to hold its first hearing on the proposed map this Friday.