Aug. 23 (UPI) — The Texas State Senate has now passed a bill approving new congressional redistricting maps, aimed at giving Republicans more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“The One Big Beautiful Map has passed the Senate and is on its way to my desk, where it will be swiftly signed into law,” Gov Greg Abbott, R-Texas, said in a statement Saturday morning after Bill HB4 was passed in an overnight session.
Texas state House Republicans passed an identical bill Wednesday, despite continued vocal pushback from Democrats who call the move supported by President Donald Trump a power grab. Several times the House failed to reach a quorum because Democrats fled to other states.
“I promised we would get this done, and delivered on that promise,” Abbott said in the statement, calling the legislation “a bill that ensures our maps reflect Texans’ voting preferences.”
The new maps are expected to give the state an extra five Republican seats in the U.S. House in time for the 2026 mid-term elections. The Republicans currently hold a 219-212 advantage with vacancies from the deaths of three Democrats and one GOP member who resigned.
Currently, Texas has 38 congressional districts, 25 of which are controlled by Republicans.
Lawmakers have said they will challenge the move in court.
Congressional maps are traditionally redrawn every decade in conjunction with a new U.S. Census, which is next scheduled to take place in 2030.
Democrats have fought to keep Texas from passing the legislation to bring in new maps. A contingent of state lawmakers left Texas in an attempt to block the bills from passing by making the governing bodies unable to reach quorum, drawing the ire of Abbott and Trump.
“This is not democracy, this is disgraceful,” Democratic State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt said on X after the bill was passed during the overnight legislative session.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is leading a push from Democrats to counteract the Texas move.
Newsom has said his state will respond by redrawing its own congressional maps that would create more seats in the House for Democrats.
“Republicans are determined to rig every rule they can, to break laws, in order to seize power. As Democrats, we have a responsibility to fight back and fight back hard, and that’s what I love about what California is doing,” Newsom said on X earlier in the week.
This week, the California state Assembly and Senate introduced three bills that would allow it to consider holding a special election needed to pass a constitutional amendment. That amendment would allow it to replace existing congregational maps through 2030.