Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, standing alongside Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (left) at an event in Chicago on Aug. 5, 2025, pledges Democrats "won't back down" as they push back against mid-decade redistricting efforts by President Donald Trump and Republicans. (DNC)
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has called for those lawmakers to be arrested and prosecuted upon their return to the Lone Star State.
The Republican push in Texas is part of a broader effort by the GOP across the country to keep control of their razor-thin House majority in the 2026 midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.
Trump and his political team are aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House, when Democrats stormed back to grab the House majority in the 2018 midterms.
"Donald Trump, Gov. Abbott, Texas Republicans, well they know that they’re headed for a loss of the Congress in 2026. They’re afraid, and they should be," Pritzker claimed. And the governor charged, "they’ve decided that the only way to save themselves is to cheat, to change the rules in the middle of the game."
Martin, who's aiming to rebound after a rocky couple of months after winning election as DNC chair in February, argued that the rare mid-decade redistricting move by Texas Republicans is a "clear and blatant violation of the Voting Rights Act."
The DNC chair said it's "a test case for the rest of the country. What Republicans are trying to do in Texas is a model for other red states to lie, cheat and steal their way to victory."
Martin vowed that "Democrats are going to fight this tooth and nail."
California Gov. Gavin Newsom calls for a new way for California to redraw its voting districts during a news conference In Sacramento, Calif., Friday July 25, 2025 (AP Photo by Rich Pedroncelli)
But while the Republican push in Texas to upend the current congressional maps doesn't face constitutional constraints, Newsom's path in California is much more complicated.
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The governor is moving to hold a special election this year, to obtain voter approval to undo the constitutional amendments that created the non-partisan redistricting commission. A two-thirds majority vote in the Democrat-dominated California legislature would be needed to hold the referendum.
"The proposal that we're advancing with the legislature has a trigger only if they move forward, to dismantling the protocols that are well-established," Newsom said on Monday. "Would the state of California move forward in kind? Fighting? Yes, fire with fire."
Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast."
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