Texas House passes Trump-backed redistricting plan to boost GOP ahead of 2026 midterms

Texas House passes Trump-backed map that could give Republicans five more seats in midterms

The Texas House of Representatives approved a new state congressional map backed by President Donald Trump, capping a weeks-long political standoff and boosting

Republicans’ chances of keeping control of the US House in the 2026 midterm elections.

The redistricting proposal passed easily in the Republican-dominated House, where a vote had been delayed after Democrats left Texas and deprived the chamber of the minimum number of lawmakers required for proceedings. The walkout ended earlier this week when the Democrats returned, vowing to battle the new map in court once Republican Governor Greg Abbott signs it into law.

Trump, looking to shore up the narrow Republican majority in the US House of Representatives, has pushed the Texas redistricting plan as a way to gain as many as five GOP seats in next year’s midterm elections.

Texas Democrats, in turn, urged Democratic-dominated states such as New York, Illinois and California to redraw their own congressional maps in search of offsetting partisan gains.

California Governor Gavin Newsom proposed a new map this month that could net Democrats five seats there, enough to offset Texas’s redraw. Even if the Democratic-dominated legislature authorizes it, the measure would still require approval by California voters in a November ballot initiative.

In Texas, House Speaker Dustin Burrows sought to prevent a repeat performance of the Democrats’ exit by ordering state police to accompany them any time they left the chamber. State Representative Nicole Collier, a Democrat from Fort Worth, rejected that requirement and instead had remained on the House floor since midday Monday, sleeping at her desk.

The Texas state Senate, which is also controlled by Republicans, must also approve a new map before it goes to Abbott to be signed into law. They’re expected to take up the issue Thursday.