Texas House Democrats return to Austin as GOP redistricting push resumes

Texas Republicans on Monday aimed to resume pushing through redrawn U.S. House district maps that would carve out a bigger GOP advantage in the 2026 midterm elections after state Democrats indicated they were ready to end a two-week walkout.

The redrawing began in Texas but has been stalled since dozens of Democrats, who are the minority in each chamber, left the state on Aug. 3, with most of them going to Illinois. The absent lawmakers had signaled they were ready to return to Austin after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott ended a first special session and Democrats in California moved forward with a plan to respond.

The House Democratic Caucus released a statement Thursday morning that its members are back in Austin.

"Our return allows us to build the legal record necessary to defeat this racist map in court, take our message to communities across the state and country, and inspire legislators across the country how to fight these undemocratic redistricting schemes in their own statehouses," state Rep. Gene Wu, the Democratic leader, said in the statement.

The Texas House is scheduled to try convening a quorum again Monday.

On Sunday evening, the Texas Senate committee on redistricting voted along party lines to pass the redrawn congressional maps.

Abbott put redistricting on the agenda at the urging of President Donald Trump, who wants to shore up Republicans' narrow U.S. House majority to avoid losing control of the chamber, and with it, prospects for Trump's conservative agenda in the later part of his term.

It is unusual for redistricting to take place in the middle of the decade and typically occurs once at the beginning of each decade to coincide with the census.

In response to the efforts in Texas, California Democrats are also moving ahead with their own reshaping of congressional districts to counteract Texas, putting in motion a potentially widening and unusually timed redistricting battle nationwide.

Many states, including Texas, give legislators the power to draw maps. California is among those that empower independent commissions with the task.

The nation's two most populous states have been at the forefront of the resulting battle, which has reached into multiple courtrooms and statehouses controlled by both parties.

On a national level, the partisan makeup of existing district lines puts Democrats within three seats of a majority. Of the 435 total House seats, only several dozen districts are competitive. So even slight changes in a few states could affect which party wins control.

Texas' maps would aim to give the GOP five more winnable seats.

California Democrats, who hold supermajorities in both chambers — enough to act without any Republican votes — on Friday unveiled a proposal that could give Democrats there an additional five U.S. House seats. But any changes would first need the approval of state lawmakers and voters. Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom has said that his state will hold a Nov. 4 special referendum on the redrawn districts.