Redrawn map fiercely opposed by Democrats now moves to state senate, where it is expected to pass
The Republican-controlled Texas house on Wednesday approved a redrawn congressional map requested by Donald Trump and fiercely opposed by Democrats, who led a weeks-long protest to stall the effort that kicked off a coast-to-coast redistricting arms race between red and blue states.
With the house’s approval, the measure next goes to the state senate, where it is expected to pass, possibly as soon as Thursday. It would then be sent to the state’s Republican governor, Greg Abbott, for his promised signature before taking effect.
“Big WIN for the Great State of Texas!!! Everything Passed, on our way to FIVE more Congressional seats and saving your Rights, your Freedoms, and your Country, itself,” Trump gloated on social media. “Texas never lets us down. Florida, Indiana, and others are looking to do the same thing.”
The House vote capped a dramatic protest that began last month, when a group of Democratic state lawmakers left Texas to delay a vote on the redistricting bill by denying a quorum in the House. They abandoned their exile this week, after the California legislature began advancing a redistricting bill to counter the Texas plan.
Before the Texas House vote, Democratic state representatives filed a series of amendments to the bill, all of which were voted down by Republicans, but allowed the minority party to raise objections to the Republicans’ decision to take up redistricting before flood relief; to house rules which require a police escort when leaving the chamber; and to the proposal itself, a mid-decade change which Democrats argue reduces the voting power of people of color in service to Republican political gains and further gerrymanders the state at the cost of democracy.
