By Nick Corasaniti, Ashley Cai, David Goodman and Shane Goldmacher
Texas Republicans unveiled a redrawn congressional map that they hope will result in a gain of five seats in the U.S. House after the 2026 midterm elections. The new map, pushed by President Trump, puts areas of Houston, Dallas and San Antonio with Democratic incumbents into districts that now favor Republicans.
It does the same with two districts along the border. In redrawing the new maps, Republicans again were able to create what appear to be nearly universally safe seats, with none of their targeted districts closer than 10 percentage points based on 2024 election results.
Gov. Greg Abbott and the Republican-led legislature went along with the overtly partisan redistricting effort.
The proposed map must still be approved by the Texas legislature, which could happen as soon as next week. And it is likely to face an immediate legal challenge from Democrats, who have argued that the new lines cut into majority Black and Hispanic districts in violation of the Voting Rights Act. But several of the new districts that were drawn to favor Republicans also contain a majority of Hispanic voters. The party appears to be counting on keeping the gains its candidates have made among Hispanic voters in recent elections, particularly in Texas.
