Texas Gov. Abbott calls for redrawing congressional map ahead of midterms

Daniela Altimari, CQ-Roll Call on Jul 10, 2025

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WASHINGTON — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, is directing state lawmakers to redraw the state’s congressional map at a special legislative session later this month.

Under the current GOP-drawn Texas map, Republicans won 25 of the state’s 38 House seats last fall, while Democrats took the remaining 13 districts. But allies of President Donald Trump have encouraged Lone Star State lawmakers to redraw the district lines in advance of next year’s midterm elections to help House Republicans pick up more seats as they defend their narrow majority.

Redistricting is one part of a packed agenda that Abbott announced Wednesday for the special session, which is set to begin on July 21. Other items include legislation to improve early warning systems and strengthen emergency communications in flood-prone areas of the state and to provide relief funding for those affected by the devastating floods over the July Fourth weekend, which have claimed more than 100 lives.

Democrats blasted Abbott’s call to redraw the map. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said in a statement that the governor was “conspiring with Donald Trump and House Republicans to try to rig the election and disenfranchise millions of voters.”

Democratic Rep. Marc Veasey, who represents the Dallas-Fort Worth area, said on social media that the decision to take up redistricting during the special session while the state recovers from the floods was “nothing more than a craven power grab and absolutely disgusting.”

Two seats that could be targeted in redistricting are the South Texas districts held by Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez, both of which Trump carried last fall. Cuellar’s 28th District and Gonzalez’s 34th District are among just three Texas seats currently rated as competitive by Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales. The other is the neighboring 15th District, represented by Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz.

Texas is not the only state that could see new congressional lines next year. Ohio is poised to redraw its map later this year, with Republicans expected to make at least two Democrat-held seats more favorable to them. Republicans already have the advantage under Ohio’s current GOP-drawn lines, holding 10 of the state’s 15 seats.

Attempts by Democrats and allied groups to get a new map in battleground Wisconsin, where Republicans hold six of the state’s eight seats, suffered a setback last month, when the state Supreme Court declined to hear a pair of legal challenges to the existing map. A bipartisan group of prominent state business leaders filed a new lawsuit in county circuit court Tuesday seeking to redraw the Wisconsin map, The Associated Press reported.