AUSTIN, Texas — AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Republicans on Wednesday unveiled a new congressional map that creates five additional GOP-leaning districts, bolstering their chances of maintaining control as they brace for a challenging midterm election.
The redrawn map comes during a special legislative session called by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, as President Donald Trump urges Texas Republicans to reshape districts in the party’s favor.
Republicans hope the new Texas map will strengthen their chances of holding the U.S. House in 2026, and Trump officials have signaled their efforts may expand beyond the state, with similar pushes now underway in Missouri.
Republicans in Texas currently hold 25 of the state’s 38 seats, and the new map ups the total they could win to 30. All of those new 30 seats were won by Trump in November by at least 10 percentage points, leading to conservative optimism they can hold them even in what’s likely to be a tough midterm environment for the party.
The new seats come from making two Rio Grande Valley seats that have been narrowly won by Democrats recently slightly more Republican, collapsing two seats held by Democrats Lloyd Doggett and Greg Casar in the Austin and San Antonio area into a single liberal district and turning two Democratic-held seats in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area into GOP-majority ones.
Rep. Greg Casar, one of the Democrats who could face a more difficult reelection under the new map, called the proposed changes “illegal voter suppression,” pointing to the merging of his district with another Democratic-held seat.
“Everyone who cares about our democracy must mobilize against this illegal map,” Casar said in a statement.
