What started on the floor of the Austin, Texas statehouse last week has rapidly mushroomed into a multi-state standoff with national implications, as the Lone Star State’s redistricting battle continues to bleed beyond its borders.
Dozens of Texas Democrats have fled to three blue states in a bid to stave off a vote on the proposed map, which could give Republicans five more seats in Congress ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
More: Trump says FBI ‘may have to’ force Democratic lawmakers back to Texas
Several Democratic state leaders have entered the fray, and two GOP lawmakers announced efforts to take the issue to the U.S. Capitol in recent days. President Donald Trump lent his opinion on the melee Aug. 5, as Texas Republicans’ redistricting fight now stretches across at least five states and captures national attention.
Here’s how Texas’ redistricting crisis has ballooned into state-on-state fights over the last week:
Illinois, New York and Massachusetts host Texas Democrats
The governors of Illinois, New York and Massachusetts are hosting Democratic lawmakers from Texas after they fled their home state Sunday, Aug. 3. The lawmakers’ mass absence from the legislature prevents the quorum Republicans need to call for a vote on the new map, which is likely to pass among its GOP majority.
Under the new maps, Texas’ congressional districts in the Houston, Austin and Dallas metro areas would be redrawn, along with a handful in southern Texas, creating five additional districts that would have heavily favored Trump in last year’s presidential race. By extension, these Republican-heavy new districts would very likely go to GOP candidates in congressional elections, strengthening the party’s currently slim majority in Congress.
More than 50 of Texas’ 67 Democratic lawmakers have fled the state as of Tuesday, Aug. 5, and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered their arrests − though it’s unclear whether and how Texas law enforcement will be able to work with out-of-state law enforcement to execute the arrest order.
States threaten to redraw their own maps in response
New York and California have threatened to launch their own redistricting, sparking a kind of political arms race between Democratic and Republican states.
California’s Democratic governor Gavin Newsom, though not hosting any Texas lawmakers, joined New York governor Kathy Hochul in threatening to use his state’s overwhelming blue majority to counteract Texas Republicans’ plans. Both governors lead two of the most powerful Democratic states.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a press conference Monday, Aug. 4 that his plans are to “fight fire with fire,” instructing Democrats to move forward with an effort to redraw the most populous state’s congressional districts if Texas moves forward with its proposed map. He said Democrats are moving forward with a plan to put the redistricting plan before voters on Nov. 4.
In a press conference the same day, Hochul discussed the possibility of new maps in her state.
“This is a war. We are at war,” she said. “And that’s why the gloves are off and I say, ‘Bring it on.'”
Republicans in Missouri, New York and California propose their own responses
In red Missouri, a coalition of the state’s conservative GOP lawmakers issued a statement on July 25 urging Gov. Mike Kehoe to call for its own redistricting effort, which would give Republicans an advantage. The governor’s spokesperson Gabby Picard told POLITICO on Tuesday, Aug. 5 that Kehoe “will always consider options” which “provide congressional districts that best represent Missourians” regarding the push for a map redraw.
But not all GOP lawmakers appear to be on board with fighting one map with another. Two Republicans, Reps. Kevin Kiley of California and Mike Lawler of New York announced that they will introduce bills to place nationwide limits on all such partisan gerrymandering. Kiley’s proposal would prohibit mid-decade redistricting, which would likely spike Texas Republicans’ efforts and the tit-for-tat proposals from New York and California.
Whatever happens in Texas, the fight over Congress via redistricting will continue in Ohio later this month, where Republicans hold a supermajority in the state legislature.
Contributing: Phillip M. Bailey, USA TODAY.
Kathryn Palmer is a national trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kapalmer@usatoday.com and on X @KathrynPlmr.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas redistricting fight hits more states, from NY to CA
