Texas Republican Governor Gregg Abbott has warned Democrats that he could “eliminate” 10 of his state’s 12 Democratic-held seats if the two parties were to launch a nationwide battle to redraw congressional maps.
Why It Matters
Democrats and Republicans in the Lone Star State are embroiled in an escalating showdown over the GOP’s efforts to redraw the congressional map to gain five seats in the U.S. House of Representatives as the 2026 midterms loom.
President Donald Trump has thrown his support behind Texas Republicans’ redistricting efforts. His Republicans face vulnerabilities ahead of next year’s elections and a new poll showing the president’s approval rating suddenly dropping among conservatives will increase Republican worries about the midterms, and raise the stakes for both parties as they wrangle over congressional maps.
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What To Know
Abbott, in comments aired by KWTX News 10, said Democrats would lose any nationwide battle over redrawing congressional maps because blue states have fewer Republican districts to play with.
“All those big, blue states, they’ve already gerrymandered. Look at the map of Illinois, look at the map of California, New York and Massachusetts and so many other blue states, they gerrymandered a long time ago, they’ve got nothing left with regard to what they can do,” Abbott said.
“And know this, if California tries to gerrymander five more districts, listen, Texas has the ability to eliminate 10 Democrats in our state. We can play that game more than they can because they have fewer Republican districts in their states,” Abbott said.
Texas has 38 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. The GOP holds 25 and the Democrats have 12, with one vacancy.
Nationally, Republicans hold 219 House seats while Democrats have 212, with four vacancies. Two seats left vacant after the deaths of two Democrats—in Arizona and Texas—will be decided in special elections in the fall. If the GOP loses both in the heavily blue districts, Democrats will inch to within three seats of a House majority, and there are several dozen competitive districts out of 435.
The two parties have long traded accusations of gerrymandering, or amending maps in the interests of one side over another to create “safe” electoral seats, in various states around the country.
Texas’ plan to redistrict, or redraw legislative district boundaries, has in turn kicked off a broader fight between blue and red states, with at least nine, including Texas, New York and California, saying they are considering redrawing their maps, according to officials and media reports.
California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has warned that if Texas Republicans follow through with their push to redistrict their state, he will retaliate by doing the same in California, which is already heavily blue.
In a letter to Trump on Monday, Newsom urged the president to abandon his push, telling him he is “playing with fire” and “risking the destabilization of our democracy.”
What People Are Saying
Trump, referring to the 2024 presidential election, told CNBC on August 5: “I won Texas. I got the highest vote in the history of Texas, as you probably know, and we are entitled to five more seats.”
Newsom, in his letter to Trump on Monday, said: “If you will not stand down, I will be forced to lead an effort to redraw the maps in California to offset the rigging of maps in red states.”
What Happens Next
Legal experts anticipate that any aggressive redistricting moves could prompt court challenges. Historically, lawsuits have delayed or overturned redistricting plans when courts deemed them unconstitutional or in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.