What’s new in Texas? Trump’s Gerrymandering push, said

President Donald Trump is not hiding that the push to redraw the electoral borders in Texas is to help his republican party to make gains in the mid-term congress in 2026.

Trump supports a decision by the Governor of Texas Greg Abbott and his Republican allies to the state legislature to change the electoral card in a way that could return to five seats in the House of American Representatives far from the Democrats next year.

“We have the opportunity in Texas to take five seats,” said Trump on Tuesday in a telephone interview on CNBC.

“We are entitled to five other seats.”

To try to block the thrust, representatives of the Democratic State have left Texas, preventing the Republicans from voting to the Legislative Assembly to make the new borders official.

Look | Democrats agreed on plans to redraw the cards of the Texas Congress:

The Democrats of the Texas Chamber leave the State to delay the redistribution

At least 51 Democrats in the Chamber fled the state of Texas to prevent the quorum and delay a redistribution vote which would give the Republicans up to five additional seats in the House of American Representatives.

They face fines, arrests and possibly withdraw functions for tactics.

Here is what you need to know:

Why does the redistocking of Texas count?

The limits of the American congress districts can have a great influence on which the party controls the House of Representatives.

Currently, the Republicans have a slim majority in the House, but historically, the party of the President in office almost always loses seats in the mid-term elections.

If the Democrats took control of the Chamber in 2026, but not only Trump lost a clear path for his legislative and expenses, but he could even face the prospect of indictment.

Redraw the Texas menu to move a few blue seats in red could help keep the house in republican hands.

Why do states control the district cards?

Unlike Canada – where non -partisan commissions in each province redesign the federal limits of horse riding once every decades – it is the very partisan legislatures of the states that control the cards of the districts of the American Congress.

This has led to a long history of the part which is in power in a state of the borders to maximize its number of seats, a process known as Gerrymandering, a term invented in 1812 in a derisory reference to the governor then governor of Massachusetts.

A handful of states have been in recent years at work to redistrict for independent commissions.

How would the new limits in Texas change things?

In the elections in 2024, the Republicans won 25 chamber races in Texas, while the Democrats took the other 13.

The decision to change the electoral card could – according to analysts examining recent voting models – change up to five of these seats held by Democrats with Republicans.

The proposed modifications include taking the firmly blue parts of the districts adjacted to the Democrats in the urban areas of Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin and combining them so that pairs of democrats are forced to face primaries or risks in a district where the Republicans have the advantage.

Meanwhile, in southern Texas, changes in the limits of two districts held by Democrats along the Mexican border could pay both to the Republicans.

Why can Republicans be so blatant about it?

Although it was the American Constitution that allows states to control the boundaries of the elections, it is the American legal system that has enabled the States to exercise this control in a blatant manner.

The United States Supreme Court ruled in 2019 in a case involving the allegations of Gerrymandering Democratic and republican supporter that the question represented “political questions beyond the reach of the federal courts”.

This means “it is absolutely allowed to draw cards according to the maximization of the partisan advantage”, said the representative of the State of Texas, Brian Harrison, a republican.

“All other Democratic States do it. The state of Texas should also,” Harrison told CNN on Tuesday.

Why did democratic legislators leave the state?

Abbott, the governor, called a special session of the state’s legislature at the end of July in order to make the new border law. To prevent this from happening, the Democratic representatives of the Texas Chamber dominated by the Republicans have left the State so that there is no quorum, the minimum number of legislators required for companies to occur.

Most have gone to Illinois, others to New York, deliberately choosing the States led by Democrats so as not to face any risk that the long arm of the police forces of Texas find local cooperation to bring them back.

Wait, what? Can politicians be arrested so as not to show up to vote?

On Monday, the president of the Texas Chamber signed mandates authorizing the sergeant on arms to force democratic representatives to attend the legislative session. Abbott then ordered state soldiers to arrest them.

Mandates only apply in state lines.

While each legislator faces a fine of $ 500 for each day of absence, he does not face criminal charges. However, Abbott threatens accusations of corruption if legislators use donations to pay fines and some Republicans seek means to have the Democrats withdraw from.

What is Trump’s vision on Gerrymandering?

The president proposes two justifications to explain why the Republicans have “entitled” to five other seats in Texas. He claims that the Republicans deserve more seats in Texas and that the Democrats also lock their states.

“”Democrats complain and they complain about states where they have done so, as in Illinois, as in Massachusetts,,“Trump told journalists in Washington on Tuesday afternoon.” The Democrats did it long before they started. They did it everywhere. “”

Trump argued that the Republicans should hold a larger share of House districts in Texas given the results of the elections in 2024. However, it is not confirmed by the calculations. Trump won 56% of the presidential electoral vote in Texas, while the elections delivered the Republicans 63% of his seats in the House.

Trump also said twice on Tuesday in 2024, he had “the highest vote in Texas history”. It’s just not true.

George W. Bush won a higher share of Texas (his country of origin) in his two successful presidential campaigns (59% in 2000 and 61% in 2004), while Ronald Reagan won an even more important part of Texas during his presidential landslide of 1984 (almost 64%).

Where is everything going from here?

California Governor Gavin Newsom warns that if Texas Republicans follow their gerrymandering, he will seek to redraw the electoral districts of his state as a countermeasure. There are similar noises from New York Blue States, Illinois and Maryland.

If the Republicans of Texas end up confirming the new card, it could face a legal battle, but a break, since the decision of the 2019 Supreme Court allows a partisan gerrymandering.