(AFP) – US President Donald Trump praised a newly passed Texas electoral map Saturday as a “tremendous opportunity” to help his Republican Party retain control of Congress in next year’s midterm elections. Texas legislators overnight gave final approval to the redistricting effort engineered to create five new Republican-leaning seats, as the state senate voted along party lines to pass the map 18-11, following more than eight hours of heated debate. Last week, the state legislature’s lower chamber adopted the bill, after Democrats delayed the votes for weeks by denying Republicans a quorum to do legislative business.
Trump, posting on his Truth Social platform, said the new map “will give the wonderful people of Texas the tremendous opportunity to elect 5 new MAGA Republicans in the 2026 Midterm Elections — A HUGE VICTORY for our America First Agenda.” Governor Gregg Abbott said he would swiftly sign the bill into law. Democratic Senator Carol Alvarado’s last-ditch plans to filibuster the map were thwarted when Republicans used a rare procedural motion to halt debate, end the filibuster, and proceed directly to the final vote. Fellow Democrat Sarah Eckhardt said shutting down a filibuster was “unprecedented.” “This is not democracy, this is disgraceful,” she posted on X.
The vote caps weeks of dramatic political theater that saw Democratic lawmakers flee the state in July to deny Republicans the quorum needed to pass the redistricting plan and drew nationwide attention to partisan redistricting, known as gerrymandering. The Democrats claim the new electoral map dilutes the votes of African-American and Hispanic electorates who usually vote for them. The Texas Senate Democratic Caucus said Friday on X that the state “has a shameful history of racial discrimination. These maps are just the latest entry in that history.” That stance echoed in the floor debate.
Democratic Senator Borris Miles denounced Republican complicity in “racist actions,” saying the new map “does not reflect the truth of Texas, but instead manipulates and whitewashes it.” Speaking on the floor, Republican Phil King was clear about the redistricting effort: “I’m convinced that if Texas does not take this action, that there is an extreme risk that the Republican majority will be lost.”
The cutthroat political gambit spurred California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, to launch a process for redrawing his state’s map — this time creating five potentially new seats for Democrats. “If Texas wants to play hardball, we’ll play hardball right back,” Newsom said in announcing the California initiative. Although Newsom hopes to cancel out the Republicans’ advantages gained in Texas, his plan still requires voter approval in an election this November.
Both parties are now looking to other states where the rules might allow hasty redrawing of maps in ways that would create more seats. Beyond Texas, Trump encouraged Florida, Indiana, and Missouri to redraw their maps to Republican advantage. The redistricting battle adds a volatile and high-stakes new element to next year’s elections. Republicans currently control the US Senate and the House of Representatives. Beleaguered Democrats hope the unpopularity of many of Trump’s policies will help flip the House. If Democrats did win, they would immediately gain power to investigate Trump and his controversial government members.
© 2024 AFP
