By Associated Press’s NADIA LATHAN, BILL BARROW, MICHAEL R. BLOOD, and TR N NGUY N
Texas’s Austin (AP) As a multistate battle for control of Congress heats up, Texas Republicans concluded a legislative session Friday without passing new congressional maps, but they were prepared to start another to fulfill President Donald Trump’s requests for redistricting that supports their party in the run-up to the 2026 midterm elections.
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Governor Greg Abbott swiftly ordered lawmakers back to start a fresh session at noon CDT after Democrats blocked Texas Republicans’ redistricting proposal by not showing up for a special session.
Democrats in California, meanwhile, intend to present a proposal for new maps that will offset any Republican gains in Texas.
With the balance of Capitol Hill and Trump’s agenda at stake for the second half of his presidency, the two most populous states in the country have been at the vanguard of a partisan war that has extended into numerous courtrooms and statehouses that are controlled by both parties.
Democrats from Texas who departed the state almost two weeks ago have prevented their Republican counterparts from attending the necessary meetings to discuss and vote on Trump’s redistricting plan. However, once California Democrats announce a new plan that they have been developing behind closed doors, they have stated that they will return to Austin for another session.
Democratic members have been accused by Abbott and Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows of resigning from their positions and blocking a legislative response to the disastrous floods that killed over 130 people last month.
Abbott said in a statement on Friday that House Democrats who were behind on passing important legislation to improve the lives of Texans fled, omitting any reference to redistricting.
Democrats link the issue in special sessions with gerrymandering at Trump’s insistence, claiming Republicans are to blame for the delay in the flood response.
Rep. Eddie Morales, one of the few Democrats who has stayed in Austin during the walkout, stated, “We are essentially in a cold Civil War that we’re starting by capitulating to a person in the White House.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that his state will hold a special election on November 4 to approve reconfigured boundaries that would give Democrats five additional members in the U.S. House.
During what amounted to a campaign kickoff rally for the as-yet-unreleased maps, Newsom stated, “We cannot stand back and watch this democracy disappear district by district all across the country.” In this world, we do not stand by and watch. We have the power to influence the future.
Although a number of governors and legislative leaders from both parties have threatened to do so, Newsom’s declaration was the first time a state outside of Texas had formally entered the mid-decade redistricting battle. When minority Democrats traveled to Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts on August 3 to prevent the Legislature from adopting any laws, the Texas plan was put on hold.
Trump has sent Vice President JD Vance to Indiana to speak with officials and has called on other Republican-controlled states to redo their maps. According to a Missouri document that The Associated Press was able to get, the state Senate was sent a $46,000 bill to activate six software licenses for redistricting and train up to ten staff members. Legislative leaders in Florida have indicated that they will think about redistricting in the fall.
Newsom urged other states governed by Democrats to join.
California is not the only state that needs to stand up. According to Newsom, other blue states must take a position.
There are four vacancies in the House, which is dominated by Republicans (219–212). Once every ten years following the census, new maps are usually created. Texas is one of many states that grant lawmakers the authority to create maps. California is one of the states that depends on an impartial, independent commission.
Only in the event that a Republican state advances would the California map become operative, and it would stay in place until the elections in 2030. Following that, Democrats say they would give the independent panel that was elected by voters more than ten years ago back control of creating maps.
Newsom and others in Los Angeles directly linked the impending battle to the future of American democracy, portraying it as a struggle against everything Trump.
Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, stated, “You have poked the bear, Donald Trump, and we will punch back.”
A few have already threatened to file a lawsuit to stop the endeavor. Even after speaking with Newsom, Republican former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has long opposed partisan redistricting, indicated that he would not support California Democrats. He shared a picture of himself at the gym on Friday, sporting a T-shirt that read. Make a reference to an offensive language to end gerrymandering.
Schwarzenegger remarked on social media, “I’m preparing for the gerrymandering battle.”
Of the 52 House seats in California, 43 are held by Democrats.
After voting on the new maps next week, lawmakers will formally announce the special election. In both chambers, Democrats have supermajorities that allow them to take action without the support of Republicans.
Blood reported from Los Angeles, Barrow from Atlanta, and Nguyn from Sacramento, California. Contributing from Jefferson City, Missouri, was reporter David Lieb of the Associated Press.
