With little say in the ongoing debate over redrawing congressional districts in their home state, Texas Democratic state legislators are looking beyond their borders for help.
Separate delegations of Texas Democrats traveled Friday to Sacramento to meet with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Chicago to see Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.
The move comes as legislators are holding a series of public hearings through early next week to discuss the proposed changes to congressional boundaries, exchanges that have led to shouting matches and at least one witness being removed from a hearing Thursday night in Austin.
“Since Governor Abbott is acting like a child, we are going to find adults to go talk to,” Democratic State Rep. Gene Wu, from the Houston area, said in a statement announcing the trip. Wu is leading the delegation of lawmakers visiting Pritzker.
Pritzker’s office said Friday he plans to meet with the legislators “about the Republican attacks to rig elections.”
But nothing in Texas state law bars legislators from redrawing lines in between censuses, and President Trump has asked Lone Star State Republicans to use their complete control of government to rearrange congressional district boundaries in hopes of winning up to five more seats across the state in next year’s elections. Doing so would help pad House Republicans’ two-seat majority as they face historic midterm headwinds.
Texas Republicans last used their total statewide power during George W. Bush’s administration to increase GOP numbers in the state congressional delegation.
Abbott’s decision to use a special legislative session called primarily to address the fallout of deadly floods in the state’s Hill Country to pass changes to the state’s congressional map drew swift rebukes from state and national Democrats.
“There are dozens of dead kids and people are still missing from the Central Texas floods. But Donald Trump is focused on manipulating elections to help himself,” State Rep. Rafael Anchia from Dallas said. He’s leading the group visiting Newsom.
State constitutional or legal restrictions make it harder for big-blue Democratic states like California, Illinois and New York to change their maps.
At a news conference with the Texas lawmakers on Friday afternoon, Newsom said California is “looking at different pathways” to respond to the fight in Texas.
“This is a fluid conversation,” Newsom said, calling it “a critical moment.”
“The question I imagine many folks are asking here in California — what do the politics of Texas have to do with the politics here in California? The answer is, everything,” Newsom added. “Everything is at stake if we’re not successful next year in taking back the House of Representatives.”
On Thursday, New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul signaled she’s going to at least explore ways to redistrict her state, suggesting GOP-controlled states are breaking the law — but she didn’t specify which ones.
“All’s fair in love and war. We’re following the rules. We do redistricting every 10 years,” Hochul said. “But if there’s other states violating the rules and are trying to give themselves an advantage, all I’ll say is, I’m going to look at it closely” with House Democratic leaders.
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