The Texas Legislature kicked off a series of hearings Thursday focused on a rare mid-decade push by top Republicans to redraw the maps for the state's congressional districts.
Ahead of the meeting of the Texas House's Special Committee on Congressional Redistricting, Democratic elected officials and advocacy groups rallied outside the state Capitol.
Their aim? To stop what they call a takeover of Texas by President Trump.
"Donald Trump is scared," Congressman Greg Casar of Austin told the crowd at Thursday's "Fight the Trump Takeover" rally.
Casar is among several high-profile Democratic lawmakers who believe Gov. Greg Abbott's move to add congressional redistricting to the state's already packed special session agenda is designed to keep Republicans — and, in turn, the president — in control of the U.S. House ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Casar believes that Democrats would win control of the U.S. House next year if congressional maps remain as they are today — something that could stall Trump's agenda during the last half of his term.
"Donald Trump has no plan of winning the next elections. He wants to rig them before we even get a chance to vote," said Casar.
How did we get here?
The move toward Texas considering redistricting outside of the usual ten-year cycle stems from a letter the U.S. Department of Justice sent to Gov. Greg Abbott earlier this month.
In it, the DOJ states that four congressional districts in Texas "currently constitute unconstitutional "coalition districts." The letter, dated July 7, further directed Abbott to "rectify these race-based considerations from these specific districts."
In response, the governor added redistricting to his official call for Texas' current special session, which began on Monday. President Trump has said he's hoping Republicans could pick up as many as five new seats in the U.S. House with newly drawn maps.
"This isn't redistricting. It's rigging," said Mia Balderas with MOVE Texas, an advocacy group focused on building the political power of young Texans.
She told the crowd of about 200 on Thursday that Texans deserve fair maps drawn with people — not power — in mind.
"We will not let Trump take over," Balderas said.
Democrats weigh walkout to block GOP redistricting push
The actual influence state Democrats could have over the redistricting process is limited in the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature.
The minority party doesn't have enough votes to stop the attempt. But Democrats do have enough members to break quorum — as in, not showing up and stalling movement at the Capitol.
Breaking quorum requires one-third, or 50 house members, to not be present on the House Floor. During that time, no votes can be taken on bills. Democrats currently hold 62 seats in the Texas House. That means if 50 of them can agree to leave, the chamber could be brought to a standstill.
Austin Rep. Gina Hinojosa says she is ready to do just that.
"With my colleagues I am prepared to break quorum when the time has come," she said at Thursday's rally.
Since before Texas' special legislative session started on Monday, Hinojosa and fellow Texas Democrats have stated they believe the session's focus should first be on flood relief for the Hill Country.
But since Republicans are in control of both chambers of the Texas Legislature, they could choose to bring up a redistricting bill first on the House Floor. That would put Democrats in a tough situation: Walking out before passing bills that would help victims of the deadly July 4 floods would look bad politically.
Former Congressman Beto O'Rourke of El Paso also joined the rally. He said Democrats shouldn't be held liable for not passing flood-related bills.
"The party that decides what is most important are the Republicans who have a majority," O'Rourke said at the rally.
"If the flooding is important, let's get to it right now. You have our full attention. We will support that." But, he added, if Republicans "want to play games with it in order to maximize your political power — to deny the voters of Texas a free and fair election — we're not buying it."
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