President Donald Trump has made it clear that he needs the 2026 midterms to be rigged within the GOP’s favor.
Talking to Texas Republicans Tuesday morning, Trump outlined his redistricting wishlist: 5 new GOP congressional seats in Texas alone. The plan would considerably reshape the Home, the place Republicans presently maintain one of many narrowest majorities in historical past.
“I keep hearing about Texas ‘going Blue,’ but it is just another Democrat LIE. With the right candidate, Texas isn’t ‘going Blue’ anytime soon!” he wrote on Fact Social.
To safe these further seats, Trump has a key ally in Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who scheduled redistricting for a particular legislative session starting July 21. The plan, which Democrats have referred to as a blatant energy seize, seems to purpose at flipping two aggressive South Texas districts and dismantling seven city, closely Democratic ones.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott helps President Donald Trump in his gerrymandering efforts.
Regardless of Trump successful simply 56% of the vote in Texas in 2024, Republicans already maintain two-thirds of Home seats there. The 2021 map—some of the gerrymandered within the nation—created two new districts in majority white areas, regardless that folks of colour made up 95% of the state’s inhabitants progress.
And now they’re going even additional. The Division of Justice lately despatched a letter to Abbott and Texas Lawyer Common Ken Paxton suggesting that 4 current Democratic districts might have been drawn utilizing unconstitutional racial gerrymandering—a pointy reversal from the Biden-era DOJ, which backed a lawsuit claiming that the map diluted minority illustration.
GOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas praised the transfer, writing that Hispanic voters have shifted quickly towards the Republican Social gathering and that redrawing the maps would result in main GOP good points.
However this can be a dangerous technique. Texas’ present map already maximizes GOP good points. Including extra Republican districts may carve up secure GOP territory, pressure incumbents into expensive primaries, or trigger early retirements. Discovering 5 new purple seats may require weakening present Republican strongholds.
Even when it succeeds, it may not matter. Republicans gaining 5 seats in Texas wouldn’t come near offsetting potential nationwide losses. Trump’s first midterm in 2018 noticed Democrats achieve 41 seats. An identical lead to 2026 would negate any benefit gained via redistricting.
In the meantime, Trump’s help in Texas is slipping. A June ballot from the Texas Politics Mission discovered {that a} majority of Texans disapprove of him, with 44% saying they strongly disapprove, and simply 27% saying they strongly approve.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is among the many Democrats combating towards President Donald Trump’s abuse of energy.
As Trump works on his map-rigging technique, Republicans are nonetheless looking for a nationwide message to advertise their sweeping financial agenda, which cuts Medicaid and meals assist to ship tax cuts to the rich. Strategists at the moment are pushing “Trump Working Family Tax Cuts” and highlighting fashionable gadgets like eliminating taxes on tricks to win again average Trump voters.
“Two can play this game,” he wrote on X.
Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California warned, too, that if purple states preserve bending the principles, blue states could also be compelled to reply equally.
Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries and Texas Democrats held a press convention Tuesday morning to sentence the “aggressive and egregious gerrymander,” calling it a transfer to “disenfranchise millions of people in Texas.”
DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene additionally identified the irony that redrawing the map may really price Republicans voters.
“It’s basic math,” she mentioned.
Trump might view redistricting as his insurance coverage coverage, however it solely works if Republicans win. In the event that they stumble in 2026, no map—regardless of how rigged—will probably be sufficient.
