Texas Republican Says He Spoke With Top GOP Mapmaker as Dems Prepare to Filibuster

Texas Republicans have remained tight-lipped through weeks of hearings and debates on the proposed congressional gerrymander, sticking close to a handful of approved answers in response to any and all questions from Democratic lawmakers.

But with the Senate set to give final approval to the map Friday, state Sen. Phil King, the Republican chair of the Senate redistricting committee, revealed he’s spoken with Adam Kincaid, the national GOP’s leading map-maker, three times this summer. 

Meanwhile, a Democratic senator announced Friday afternoon she plans to filibuster the map legislation — setting the Senate on course for a late night.

Kincaid, the executive director of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, the party’s top redistricting organization, designed the state’s congressional map in 2021. He also drew a gerrymandered map Tarrant County, Texas passed earlier this summer that targeted minority voters.

Senate Democrats sought to subpoena Kincaid to answer questions at a redistricting committee hearing, but Republicans blocked the request.

King has disclosed little information about how the proposed congressional map was drawn, but he deviated slightly from his script after relentless questioning from state Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D).

“When the media first started discussing redistricting, I called him and asked him if he was involved in that process, and he said he was,” King said of Kincaid, adding that the conversation was around two months ago.

They then ran into each other at the American Legislative Exchange Council annual conference, King said, referring to the influential organization of conservative state lawmakers. 

“We visited a few minutes. I specifically told him: ‘Don’t tell me anything you’re doing with regard to map drawing. Don’t tell me about the details of any map if you’re involved in it,’” King said.

“But earlier, you said you didn’t know the mapdrawer,” Gutierrez responded.

King then mentioned they spoke on the phone this week.

“Adam called me this last Monday…he called me and asked me if I was aware that the House was going to be putting out a map that had some changes from the original [House Bill]. And I said, ‘No, I wasn’t,'” King said, adding that Kincaid was trying to get in touch with a House member.

King said he was unaware of any conversations between Kincaid and his staff.

Gutierrez pressed King further, saying he had contradicted his earlier claims in committee meetings that he hadn’t spoken with the mapmaker. 

“You’re getting way out of line,” King told Gutierrez. “You haven’t been in those committee hearings. You haven’t seen or heard what’s been stated in those committee hearings.” 

“It’s 2025. I can watch you on TV, and by the way, I have,” Gutierrez responded.

King continued to insist Friday that he had no knowledge of what the mapmaker did while drawing the lines.

“I have no personal knowledge of what any of the mapdrawers looked at. I could guess, but I’m not going to tell you unless I know,” King said. 

The Senate is bracing for a late night, as state Sen. Carol Alvarado (D) announced Friday afternoon she plans to delay the vote on the map with a filibuster. 

“Think of it as the last stand for Texas Democrats. Senator Alvarado will be on her feet for as long as she’s able. Texas is ground zero in a national redistricting fight. We have to use every tool at our disposal to obstruct, delay, and call this scheme out for what it is—a racist power grab,” Alvarado’s office said in a statement Friday. 

Alvarado filibustered an election bill in 2021 that contained numerous voting restrictions. The measure ultimately passed.

Members of the Texas Senate are allowed to hold the floor for an indefinite amount of time until the member finishes speaking or three rule violations are sustained against them. Senators are not allowed to eat, drink, sit, lean, use the restroom or speak off topic. 

Some elected officials – including state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett – have called on Senate Democrats to leave the state this week to block a vote on the map, following a two-week quorum break from their House colleagues. Though some Senate Democrats have expressed interest in a quorum break, it appears they don’t have enough members on board with the plan to go through with it.