Texas Democrats Vow Not to ‘Make It Easy’ for Republicans’ Redistricting Efforts Before Midterms

Texas Senate approves creation of redistricting committee after marathon legislative session.

A law enforcement officer stands near the entrance to the House of Representatives in the State Capitol in Austin, Texas, on July 21, 2025. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Texas Senate Democrats stalled for hours and attempted to stop the formation of a congressional redistricting committee, which could result in additional Republican seats during the midterm elections, as lawmakers convened in Austin for a special session on July 21.

The Texas Senate eventually voted 19–11 in favor of creating the committee after a marathon session on the first day of the 30-day special session.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s call for a special session includes “constitutional concerns” outlined in a U.S. Justice Department letter. The letter stated that four Texas districts are unconstitutional because they violate the Voting Rights Act and the 14th Amendment.

The Justice Department said the Texas districts are “coalition districts,” where minority groups make up a majority of the population when combined and vote together to elect a candidate preferred by minorities.

Democratic Reps. Al Green—who recently filed a resolution to impeach President Donald Trump, alleging “authoritarianism”—Sylvia Garcia, and Marc Veasey represent the 9th, 29th, and 33rd Texas congressional districts, respectively, which are in dispute.

Houston Democratic state Sen. Boris L. Miles said the redistricting effort is an “attack on Democracy” and accused Trump of “orchestrating and coordinating a dangerous attempt to strip away power from black and brown communities in Texas.”

“We have to refuse to make this easy for them,” Miles said during the floor discussion.

Republican state Sen. Phil King, who presented the resolution to form the committee, said that questions about the redistricting process would be addressed later, after the committee was formed.

“It simply puts in place the very same process that we used, without objection, in 2021—the same process we used in 2023,” he said, pointing out that the vote had been unanimous during past redistricting efforts.

Texas Speaker Republican Dustin Burrows also announced the formation of a Texas House committee.

Meanwhile, Texas Republicans passed a resolution before the special session began to address key priorities for the state, which included redistricting.

“President Donald J. Trump’s political team has met with the Texas Congressional delegation to discuss the possibility of redistricting the Texas Congressional map to support the Republican majority in Congress at the next midterm election,” the resolution stated.

Republicans have a slim 220–212 majority in the 435-seat House of Representatives. Historically, mid-term elections have not been kind to the incumbent president’s party, resulting in a loss of House seats.

Trump said redistricting in Texas could improve his party’s chances.

“I think we get five,” the president told reporters at the White House recently. “And there could be some other states where we’re going to get three or four or five. Texas will be the biggest one.”