The Texas Senate advanced House Bill 4 by a vote of 18 to 11, just after 12:30 a.m. Saturday. The bill aims to move forward with redistricting efforts in which boundaries are re-drawn to create five more Republican congressional seats in preparation for the 2026 midterm elections.
Sen. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston led a filibuster Saturday in an effort to prevent the passage of H.B 4 but Senate Republicans cut off debates early to begin proceedings.
The passage of the new voting map comes after Texas Democratic lawmakers left the state Aug. 3 to prevent Republicans from having the number of representatives needed to pass the measure. They returned last week after successfully preventing the bill during the first special legislative session, however, Texas Governor Greg Abbott called a second special session, effectively meeting the quota.
Prior to the lawmakers’ return, Abbott authorized the Texas Department of Public Safety to “locate, arrest and return any House member who abandoned their duty to Texans”, a move not possible because Texas DPS doesn’t have out-of-state jurisdiction.
The redistricting efforts – often referred to as gerrymandering, where boundaries are drawn to favor a political party – is legal unless ruled to be racially motivated. This is due to a 2019 Supreme Court decision that upheld Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act stating, ‘lines cannot diminish people’s voting power based on race’. Democrats have argued that the new maps aim to reduce the influence of minority voter groups and have filed a lawsuit against Abbott claiming that the maps violate voter protection laws.
“The plan ‘meets the critically important goals of legality, of political performance for Republicans and of improved compactness’”, said Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford and House Bill 4’s sponsor, adding racial populations were not a factor.
The US House of Representatives contains 435 members elected every two years representing districts set by the state government. At the moment, Republicans hold a slim seven-seat majority with 219 seats to Democrats 212. The move is significant since districts are typically set after the US Census is conducted every decade to accurately reflect state population changes. The 2020 census confirmed that Latinos make up the biggest portion of Texas’ population and Texans of color make up 95% of the state’s population growth in the last decade.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, whose state is leading the Democratic charge, has pledged to “fight fire with fire” by replicating Texas’ actions. On Thursday, the California statehouse confirmed a measure that would allow the state to re-draw their maps in preparation for a November special election.
States preparing to consider redistricting include Democratic-led states including Illinois, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Maryland, as well as Republican-led Indiana, Florida, Missouri and Ohio.
