5 things to know about the redistricting battle in Texas and beyond
1. Department of Justice encourages Texas to adopt a new map
The push to draw new congressional districts in Texas began with a July 7 letter from the U.S. Department of Justice informing the state that four of its 38 congressional districts were unconstitutional “coalition districts” where multiple racial minority groups combined make up a majority of the population.
Citing a 2024 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit finding that “coalition districts” are not protected by the Voting Rights Act, the DOJ ordered Texas to “bring its current redistricting plans into compliance with the U.S. Constitution.”
Three weeks later, the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature released House Bill 4. The measure creates new congressional districts. As outlined by political analyst David Wasserman of the Cook Political Report in a July 30 X post, the proposed map increases the number of seats carried by Trump in the 2024 presidential election from 27 to 30.
However, Texas’ congressional delegation currently consists of 25 Republicans and 13 Democrats. Democrats currently represent two congressional districts carried by Trump by single digits.
One of those districts, Texas’ 28th Congressional District, would see Trump’s margin of victory increase from about 7 points to about 10 points. The other Trump-won district represented by a Democrat, Texas’ 34th Congressional District, would also have given Trump an increased margin of victory of 10 points. Trump won the current version of Texas’ 34th Congressional District by about 5 points.
The new map also redraws Texas’ 9th Congressional District, which is currently an overwhelmingly Democratic district based in Houston, as a district Trump won by 15 points in 2024.
Under the new map, Texas’ 35th Congressional District would go from an overwhelmingly Democratic district to one that Trump won by 10 points. Another Democrat-held seat, Texas’ 32nd Congressional District, would be transformed into a district that Trump won by 18 points.
Abbott signed the new map into law on Aug. 29, following its approval by the Texas House of Representatives in an 88-52 vote and its passage by the Texas Senate in an 18-11 vote.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
