Texas House Gives Final Approval to GOP Gerrymander

The Texas House voted Wednesday to move forward with a new congressional map – as Democrats continued to seek ways to resist.

The vote for the map on a second reading was 88-52. The vote on a third and final reading was also 88-52.

The map, which could add five GOP seats in Congress and has set off a national redistricting war, will need approval from the Texas Senate before going to the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who will sign it.

State Rep. Gene Wu, chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, slammed Republicans for rigging the map to influence the 2026 midterm election outcome. 

“This is what people do – people like Donald Trump, people like the Republican Party of Texas. When they can’t win, they cheat,” Wu said shortly before the vote.

With Wednesday’s House vote, the map cleared a major hurdle with enough Democrats present to establish a quorum. 

But some House Democrats are still refusing to be present. Twenty members were recorded absent Wednesday, according to the unofficial House roll call. 

Democrats fought the map with a number of proposed amendments that ultimately failed to pass. 

State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D) filed amendments that would have affirmed the state was following the Voting Rights Act when it drew its original map. The measures would have allowed Texas to hold 2026 elections using the current congressional district lines if the proposed map is blocked by courts. Republicans rejected those measures. 

The Texas House issued civil arrest warrants against Democrats who left the state earlier this month to block a vote on the GOP map. Democrats who returned to Texas have been forced to sign a permission slip to leave the Capitol that puts them in around-the-clock custody of a state law enforcement officer. 

State Rep. Nicole Collier (D) has remained in the House chamber since Monday because she refused to consent to police custody, filing a legal petition Monday against the requirement and drawing national attention to her protest.

“Nicole, we are all in that chamber with you. Thank you to you and all the Texas Democrats who are standing up for the people,” former Vice President Kamala Harris (D) posted on social media Tuesday.

Hillary Clinton on Wednesday said she, too, is alarmed by Collier’s detention: “In a free country, state lawmakers don’t get held hostage by the opposition.”

State Rep. Jolanda Jones, a Democrat who has not returned to the House, slammed Burrows for locking the doors to the House during proceedings on the map.

“Is this a plantation? I was born in America, not on a plantation. I’m free only because I didn’t go back,” Jones posted Wednesday.

Other Democrats have embraced their police escorts. State Reps. Venton Jones and Terry Meza brought their police escorts along to a Dallas gay bar Tuesday.

House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R) confirmed Wednesday that Democrats will continue to be in police custody until the redistricting map is passed on a final vote. 

The Texas Senate already voted to approve the map – after two Senate Democrats remained in the chamber, allowing Republicans to hold the vote – but House Democrats ran out the clock on the first 30-day special legislative session. The legislature is now in its second special session, so the Senate will need to approve the map again. 

House Democrats continued to fight from the floor Wednesday, with Wu filing an amendment that would block the map until after the complete release of the Epstein files. 

“Trump is in those files, and that’s why he’s fighting to keep them hidden,” Wu said in a statement. “At the same time he’s demanding Abbott ram through racist maps, he’s making sure Congressional Republicans block the release of files that could expose his decades-long relationship with a child sex trafficker. This amendment forces Republicans to choose between their loyalty to Trump and their obligation to expose sexual predators.”

With most House Democrats back in Austin, U.S. Rep Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) joined others who are pushing Senate Democrats to leave the state next to continue blocking the map.

“It’s time for the Texas Senate to break quorum! It’s time to show these republicans that respect is earned & disrespect & bullying won’t be tolerated!” Crockett said on social media Wednesday.