OAN Staff Abril Elfi
6:38 PM – Wednesday, August 20, 2025
Texas’ Republican-led legislature has officially approved the Lone Star State’s new electoral map, advancing the redistricting plan.
On Wednesday, Republican state lawmakers approved the newly designed congressional map on an 88-52 party-line vote, giving the GOP up to five additional seats in Congress before the 2026 midterm elections.
During the heated debate over House Bill 4, Texas Democrats criticized the timing of the redistricting effort, arguing that the law “undercut minority representation, violated voting rights protections, and lacked public involvement.”
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However, ironically, similar redistricting measures are now being pursued by Democrat officials in blue states, including California, New York, Illinois, and more.
On the morning of the final vote, the Rotunda at the Texas Capitol was crowded with anti-redistricting protesters.
The Republican-controlled House rejected all 12 Democratic amendments before the vote.
In an effort to delay the debate, Democrats proposed amendments to defer the implementation of the new plan until 2028, tying it to the creation of an independent redistricting committee and a federal court ruling affirming that the map does not disenfranchise minority voters.
Of the more than 50 Democrat members who fled the state earlier this month in protest of House Bill 4, 20 were recorded as absent for Wednesday’s session — though some appeared before the final vote.
The previously missing Democrats were only allowed to leave the chamber after agreeing to be taken into custody by a Department of Public Safety officer, who would ensure their return for the redistricting vote.
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