Texas Republicans are pushing through a mid-decade redistricting plan under direct pressure from former President Donald Trump, aiming to secure at least five additional congressional seats for the GOP ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Critics call the move a brazen attempt to silence communities of color and further entrench Republican power in Washington.
Currently, Republicans hold 25 of Texas’ 38 U.S. House seats. Trump won 27 of those districts in 2024. Under the proposed redistricting, 30 Texas districts would have backed Trump by at least 10 percentage points — potentially flipping five seats from Democrat to Republican.
Currently, there are four Black members in Congress and all but one of their seats is being challenged by the proposed redistricting plan.
“This isn’t about population growth or fairness,” said U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas. “It’s about Donald Trump trying to hold onto power by gutting Black and brown representation in Texas.”
Crockett’s own seat — the 30th Congressional District anchored in Dallas — would become a newly designated majority-Black district under the proposed map. But far from being a victory, she says the change is part of a broader “packing and cracking” strategy that dilutes overall minority voting power.
The Realignment of Black and Brown Districts
Four key congressional districts — TX-9 (Al Green, Houston), TX-18 (formerly Sheila Jackson Lee and most recently Sylvester Turner, Houston), TX-29 (Sylvia Garcia, Houston), and TX-33 (Marc Veasey, Dallas-Fort Worth) — are at the center of this redistricting battle. All are represented by Black or Latino Democrats and are being dramatically altered.
In Houston, TX-9, held by Rep. Al Green, would shift from a solidly Democratic seat into one that Trump would have won by 15 points, effectively flipping a Black-majority Democratic stronghold into a Republican-leaning district. TX-18, a historic seat for Black representation since Barbara Jordan’s time, would become even more densely Democratic — a tactic critics say amounts to “packing” minority voters into fewer districts to make neighboring ones more favorable for Republicans.
The TX-29 district, represented by Latina Rep. Sylvia Garcia, would see its boundaries redrawn to reduce Latino influence and increase its competitiveness for Republicans.
In the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, the changes are equally aggressive. TX-33, held by Rep. Marc Veasey, would be redrawn to drop all of Fort Worth — his home base — and be absorbed into Dallas County. That district would now overlap significantly with Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s, setting the stage for a possible primary showdown between two sitting Black lawmakers.
Reported, but not confirmed, the redrawn “super-packed” Black district places the home Crockett currently lives in outside her district boundaries.
“They are targeting three of the four Black-held seats in this state,” said Crockett. “This isn’t accidental. This is intentional voter suppression through redistricting.”
A Power Grab Beyond Texas
The redistricting push is unprecedented in its timing. Maps are traditionally redrawn every 10 years following the U.S. Census, but Trump’s Justice Department has called four of Texas’ districts “unconstitutional racial gerrymanders” and is urging the legislature to “correct” them — despite those maps having been approved in 2021 and still being litigated in federal court.
“This is not about compliance,” said Rep. Sylvia Garcia. “This is about control — giving Donald Trump a rubber stamp Congress.”
Legal experts warn that Texas’ mid-decade maneuver could set a dangerous precedent, encouraging other GOP-led states to follow suit. Meanwhile, civil rights advocates say the new maps violate the spirit of the Voting Rights Act, even if courts no longer require federal preclearance thanks to a 2013 Supreme Court ruling.
“The courts have always found Texas to be intentionally discriminatory in redistricting,” said Crockett. “This time is no different — except now they’re doing it mid-decade, in plain sight, at Trump’s direction.”
The Democratic National Committee has launched a counter-campaign to mobilize opposition across Texas, deploying thousands of volunteers and targeting swing districts with organizing efforts. But for many lawmakers and voters of color in Texas, the battle feels deeply personal.
“This isn’t just about maps,” said Crockett. “It’s about whose voices matter in this democracy — and whether we’ll let Donald Trump redraw our future.”
