Texas GOP Unveils Map to Flip Seats, Faces Dem Opposition

Texas Republicans unveiled a proposed congressional redistricting map Wednesday, aiming to flip five Democratic-held seats and solidify GOP control after explicit urging from President Donald Trump. The draft, released during a special legislative session called by Governor Greg Abbott, would increase Republican-held House seats from 25 to potentially 30, drawing new boundaries primarily in the Houston, Dallas, Austin, and South Texas regions.

Notably, Houston's 9th District, currently majority-minority and represented by Al Green (D), would be redrawn into a seat won by Trump by 15 points in 2024. The plan also forces Democratic members in Austin and Dallas, including Reps. Greg Casar, Lloyd Doggett, Julie Johnson, and Marc Veasey, into more competitive or even primary battles. In South Texas, current Democratic districts would be tilted toward Republicans by adding more GOP voter pockets while shifting Democratic areas to current more Republican-leaning districts.

Democrats have denounced the mid-cycle redistricting as an overtly partisan attempt to capture seats and to circumvent ongoing legal challenges to the state’s 2021 map. State Rep. Gene Wu (D) called the proposal a “corrupt, racially-motivated gerrymander,” and Democrats are contemplating a quorum break, potentially fleeing the state to stall the vote, despite updated House rules allowing $500-per-day fines for absences. National Democratic groups are mobilizing resources and volunteers to fight the changes and prepare for legal battles, and Democratic-controlled state legislatures may take up their mid-cycle redistricting in hopes of capturing GOP-held seats in their states.

 

Biden, Trump Make Dueling Visits to Texas Border Cities

President Joe Biden and Former President Donald Trump both made visits to the Texas-Mexico border on Thursday. Biden visited Brownsville, the southernmost city in the state, and Trump visited Eagle Pass, one of the most active crossing sites for migrants for the past several years.

Trump landed first in Del Rio before traveling to Eagle Pass, where he was joined by Texas Governor Greg Abbott and by National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd, both staunch backers of Trump in his rematch against Biden in November.

In his speech, Trump blasted Biden, calling him the “worst president” in American history and pledged to reinstate the policies of his presidency, including Remain in Mexico, where asylum claimants waited in Mexico while their claims were adjudicated.

In Brownsville, Biden met with local leaders and border patrol agents, where he had a brief tour of the border and then gave a speech at the border patrol station. After he spoke briefly on the wildfires in the Texas Panhandle, he called on Republicans to pass a bipartisan bill that would allocate money to hire more border patrol agents and judges.

Democrats have accused congressional Republicans of bowing to pressure from Trump to not pass the bill in order to prevent Biden from claiming credit in reducing the number of migrants coming to the US. Republicans counter that Biden can take executive action without the bill and that the bill should not be tied to funding for Ukraine in the war against Russia.

The trip to Brownsville is Biden’s first trip to South Texas and his second to the US-Mexico border.