In response to Texas Republicans redrawing their congressional maps to maintain their stronghold over GOP seats across the nation, Democratic leaders in California, most notably Gov. Gavin Newsom, say it’s time to “fight fire with fire.” California will hold a special voting election on Nov. 4th, bypassing its traditional redistricting commission for the first time in 15 years to counter Texas’ moves for GOP seats.
A national bipartisan frenzy is continuously underway ahead of the 2026 midterm elections as the Trump administration signals to fellow Republican colleagues, such as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, to maintain a stronghold, and Texas Democrats have fled to states such as Illinois to avoid being forced to give up their vote in the battle of GOP seats in Texas.
Last Friday, on Aug. 22, the Texas State Senate took to the floor to vote in favor of a newly redrawn congressional district map with the aim of picking up 5 Republican seats. On the morning of Aug. 23 at 12:30am, the Senate acquired new lines on a vote of 18-11, according to the Texas Tribune. Democratic Rep. of Houston, Sen. Carol Alvarado, planned a filibuster to counter the map redraw. The Senate issued a strategic procedural motion shortly after midnight to dismantle her attempt at a filibuster.
Sen. Phil King, Republican representative of Weatherford, admitted that he did not consider racial population data in his participation in the map redraw, which puts African American and LatinX voters of Texas at risk of not being heard through their district representatives. He said the map “meets the critically important goals of legality, of political performance for Republicans, and of improved compactness.”
Democratic leader in the Texas House of Representatives, Rep. Gene Wu, attended a national briefing held by American Community Media last Friday. He said the following: “I spent the last three days being kept on the floor of the house because I was accompanying Nicole Collier as she protested our arrest and protested our detention. We stayed on the House floor for over 48 hours. We fought the bill, and they eventually passed it.” He continued, “They are willing to use force, threats, and intimidation… anything at their disposal to get what they want. To make it short, what they want is to cheat.”
Nicole Collier, who refused to be escorted out by a Department of Public Safety (DPS) officer, was seen over the past week all over social media as some members of the public supported her protest. Eventually locked inside of the Texas capital, she slept there for a few nights, bonnet and all.
Collier told CBS News last week why she was standing in protest, “I’ve been elected to represent District 95; they sent me here to fight back and push against bills that are harmful to our community. These maps that are rigged to have the outcome that Trump wants are harmful to my community. They will take away the voice of my district once these maps pass.” Former Vice President Kamala Harris even called Collier on the phone and gave her words of encouragement, and video footage briefly circulated on social media last week of the positive exchange.
She continued, “When I heard that in order for me to have my freedom I had to agree to exactly what they wanted, which means I had to agree to be released into the custody of DPS (Department of Public Safety), I said, ‘No, I won’t do it.’”
Rep. Gene Wu also said, “California is defending the nation. Texas is doing something that is illegal.”
Sam Wang, president of the Electoral Innovation Lab at Princeton University, said the following about redistricting, also known as redrawing congressional maps. “The Supreme Court has said that partisan redistricting is unconstitutional, but they have also declined to do anything about it.”
He continued, “The reason why we are seeing such diverse responses in these different states is [because] in Texas there are no state laws governing redistricting whatsoever; it is truly the ‘wild west.’ And as a consequence, the only recourse available to Texas legislatures on the Democratic side is to deny quorum, which happens to be the one leverage point they have.”