Texas Gov. Abbott signs redrawn congressional map favoring Republicans into law after Trump push
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the bill redrawing Texas’ congressional map into law, he said on Friday. The milestone for the Republican-driven mid-decade redistricting in the Lone Star state comes as other states consider redrawing their congressional maps.
Abbott, who signed the bill around a week after the state Senate passed it, shared a video on social media Friday showing the Republican governor putting his signature on the legislation.
"Texas is now more red in the United States Congress," he added right afterwards.
States usually draw their congressional map once a decade, after the census, but President Donald Trump and the White House pushed the state to redraw its map in order to help Republicans bolster their slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026’s midterm elections.
Experts said the new congressional map could allow Republicans to flip up to five seats; Republicans said the new district borders were drawn based on political performance and other considerations allowed by law.
Democrats said the maps unfairly target and marginalize voters of color. Dozens of Democratic legislators in the Texas House of Representatives left the state for weeks in early August in order to halt a special legislative session called by Abbott that included redistricting as an item on the agenda.
They returned after Republican leaders terminated that session early, and after California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic leaders there unveiled plans to have Californians vote on new maps favoring Democrats in November. Other states such as Indiana and Illinois are also considering mid-decade redistricting, while Utah and Ohio are required to redraw their maps this year due to court orders.
Democrats and voting rights groups are also already challenging the new Texas maps in court, with more lawsuits expected to come. Texas’ 2021 congressional map was already the subject of multiple lawsuits.
"This isn’t over -- we’ll see these clowns in court," Texas Democratic Party chair Kendall Scudder said in a statement Friday.
ABC News' Brittany Shepherd and Benjamin Siegel contributed to this report.
