Texas Senate sends redrawn congressional maps to Gov. Abbott's desk

Senate passes new congressional maps

The Texas Senate passed new congressional maps just after midnight Saturday after an attempt to filibuster by Sen. Carol Alvarado was blocked. The bill now heads to the governor's desk.

AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas Senate approved a new congressional map early Saturday morning after an attempt to filibuster the bill by Democrats was countered by Republicans.

The Senate passed the map on a party-line vote, 18 to 11, around 12:30 a.m. Saturday morning.

Blocked filibuster

Houston Democrat Sen. Carol Alvarado planned to filibuster the bill for as long as possible Saturday, but Republicans used a Senate rule to block the filibuster attempt and force a vote.

 Sen. Charles Perry pointed to a campaign email sent by Alvarado as his basis for blocking the filibuster attempt.

"To hold state employees at work under the guise of official responsibilities for the purpose of fundraising appears to be potentially unlawful, at least unethical," Perry said.

The Senate rule ended all debate about the bill and forced the vote, which led to an outburst from some in the gallery.

Gov. Abbott's response

Gov. Greg Abbott celebrated the passage of House Bill 4 saying the map "reflects Texans' actual voting preferences."

What they're saying:

"The One Big Beautiful Map has passed the Senate and is on its way to my desk, where it will be swiftly signed into law," Abbott said. "I promised we would get this done, and delivered on that promise. I thank Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick for leading the passage in the Senate of a bill that ensures our maps reflect Texans' voting preferences."

New Congressional map

AUSTIN, TEXAS - AUGUST 06: A newly proposed U.S. Congressional District map is seen as the Senate Special Committee on Congressional Redistricting meets to hear invited testimony on Congressional plan C2308 at the Texas State Capitol on August 6, 202

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Dig deeper:

The new map increases the number of congressional districts that would have voted for Trump by at least 10 percentage points by five.

Republicans currently control 25 of the state's 38 Congressional districts.

The new map makes some big changes in North Texas. It moves Democrat Rep. Marc Veasey’s district from Tarrant to Dallas County, Democrat Rep. Julie Johnson’s district moves from Dallas and Collin County to more conservative sections of East Texas, and Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s Dallas seat becomes one of just two majority Black districts in the entire state.

The Democrats claim the redrawn maps will violate the federal Voting Rights Act, but that may be difficult for them to prove.

In Central Texas, Democrats Greg Casar and Lloyd Doggett find their districts vastly different from the most recent map.

The district currently held by Casar would no longer include Travis County, while the district held by Doggett would no longer include a portion of Williamson County.

In Houston, the new map reshapes four currently Democrat-held districts. The biggest change to the districts would be in the seat currently held by Rep. Al Green. The new map would shift the district from covering southern Harris County and instead move it to the eastern part of the county.

Nationwide impact

The decision by Texas lawmakers to redraw congressional maps ahead of the midterm elections has sparked debate across the United States, with some Democrat-led states vowing to draw Republicans out of their seats in the state.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Thursday afternoon that will move forward a partisan redistricting plan aimed at winning Democrats five more U.S. House seats in the 2026 election.

Newsom's approval will allow for a special election, leaving redistricting up to California voters. 

READ: California Democrats introduce redistricting legislation, Republicans vow to fight

Republicans, who have filed a lawsuit and called for a federal investigation into the plan, promised to keep fighting to stop it.

Democrats currently hold 43 of California’s 52 U.S. House seats.