Texas Democrats have the last laugh over MAGA gerrymandering

[marmar]

Texas Democrats have the last laugh over MAGA gerrymandering
After initial success in Texas, Trump's 2026 gerrymandering strategy is facing roadblocks

By Heather Digby Parton
Columnist
Published November 13, 2025 9:00AM (EST)


(Salon) In case anyone wonders if there’s any point in taking a stand only to be forced to capitulate down the road, I would invite you to consider an episode from last summer.

When Republican members of the Texas legislature passed a bill to redraw the state’s congressional map — and give the GOP five additional seats in the House of Representatives — at the behest of President Donald Trump, Democratic lawmakers fled the state to deny the GOP a quorum and delay the vote. They were threatened with arrest and handed massive fines. But in the end, they returned. The GOP not only passed the legislation, but they also exacted retribution against the Democrats.

....(snip)....

Although the Texas Democrats didn’t succeed in stopping the Republicans, their doomed strategy achieved something just as important: It brought national attention to the Machiavellian tactics the GOP was employing to maintain its congressional majority in 2026. And that has resulted in a state-by-state battle across the country that just may end up backfiring on the Republicans.

....(snip)....

Like the Texas Democrats, Newsom decided to go ahead and call a special election, and then set out to sell the idea. On Nov. 4, after four months of elevating the issue, Prop 50 passed with nearly 65% of California voters in favor. The risk paid off — California’s new map will effectively cancel out the five seats Texas added, and instead of being engineered in a backroom, it was done with the explicit approval of Californians.

....(snip)....

Other states are now following their lead. Just before the election, Virginia Democrats signaled they are ready to redraw their congressional map, and after they decimated the GOP in the Nov. 4 election, they will soon be in a position to do it. Illinois and Maryland could soon do the same. ....................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/11/13/texas-democrats-have-the-last-laugh-over-maga-gerrymandering/

[Scubamatt]

1. For our friends

Last edited Thu Nov 13, 2025, 12:15 PM - Edit history (1)

who respond to our frustration with some of our leadership with the mantra: "What do you expect them to do? They're not in power!"", this is Exhibit A. Fighting for what matters . . . matters. It inspires. It unites. It energizes. It shows the way. In face of fascism, fight.

[Exp]

2. Finally fighting back! And it is working! nt

[moose65]

3. This could be sweet

I keep hoping that Republicans, in their haste to redraw the districts and in their smugness over the issue, may have made a mistake. Seems like they overestimated the support of Hispanic voters in Texas.

Wouldn't it be delicious if they have spread themselves too thin, and actually don't gain any seats in Texas at all? Then all of this would be for naught. Couldn't happen to nicer folks.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. Texas Redistricting-As a voting rights volunteer, I was amused to learn a new term "dummymander"

I have been volunteering on voting rights/voter protection since 2004 when I went to Florida as part of the Kerry Edwards voter protection team. I have testified before committees of both the Texas House and Senate on gerrymandered districts. Part of my testimony was used in a prior lawsuit that unfortunately failed. Texas is heavily gerrymandered. My congressional district went from a R+1 to a R+21 as part of the last gerrymander. trump wants Ohio and Texas to re-gerrymander their districts to help in the midterms. I was amused to see that these efforts run a risk of failing

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/11/texas-redistricting-00448145

But in Texas, Republicans are in danger of creating a so-called dummymander, whereby an attempt to draw more seats for one party accidentally benefits the other. Texas’ congressional map already heavily favors the GOP, so any changes to further benefit the party would have to walk a careful line. Adding Republican voters to blue districts to reduce Democrats’ margins means taking those same voters out of the red districts where they reside. The result is more competitive districts across the board — ones Democrats hope to take advantage of as they harness anti-Trump energy in the midterms.

“They are playing a little bit of roulette with these maps,” said Rep. Julie Johnson (D-Texas). “In a wave election like what we have a potential opportunity for in ‘26 I think it makes these Republicans very vulnerable.”

Texas has 38 House seats, with 25 held by Republicans. Members of the state’s Democratic delegation huddled with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as the redistricting talk ramped up, with follow-up meetings planned.

Jeffries warned in a statement Wednesday that an aggressive map could “result in making several incumbent House Republicans vulnerable to fierce general election challenges.”

“Republicans are cutting off their nose to spite their face,” he added.....

Democrats are almost certain to sue over whatever new maps are created in both Ohio and Texas, said John Bisognano, president of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.

“I imagine we will have a lot to say about the map they create and the legalities of it,” he said Thursday.

On top of everything else, there is a trial going on with respect to the Texas maps that these efforts may affect.

This will be fun to watch

[SWBTATTReg]

5. This is exactly what I (and I'm sure other DUers thought too) would happen, this will backlash on the repugs...

I always wondered if the repugs really know their voters. I guess after the next couple of elections after all of the redistricting we'll know.

I wonder if repug efforts to invalidate redistricting efforts could backfire on the repugs (which I somewhat suspect is a strong possibility, being that not knowing their voters but pissing off voters too).

[LetMyPeopleVote]

6. The Texas Gerrymander may backfire

[LetMyPeopleVote]

7. Texas GOP regret 'their overconfidence' as Trump-led effort 'may end up backfiring'

This gerrymander may well end up being the classic dummymander

Texas GOP regret 'their overconfidence' as Trump-led effort 'may end up backfiring'

www.rawstory.com/texas-gop-re...

— GritsLady (@gritslady.bsky.social) 2025-11-14T00:34:18.883Z

https://www.rawstory.com/texas-gop-regret-their-overconfidence-as-trump-led-effort-may-end-up-backfiring/

After Texas Republicans' intial success in redistricting, President Donald Trump's gerrymandering strategy is starting to backfire, writes Salon's Heather Digby Parton, and as Democrats have the last laugh, Republicans are starting to doubt their "overconfidence" in Trump's strength.

Texas Democrats fled the state on two separate occasions — once in 2021 and once in 2025 — to block Republican legislation by denying the state House a quorum.

Their protests in 2021 centered on a restrictive voting bill, while the 2025 action was to oppose a new congressional map they condemned as a partisan gerrymander.......

Digby Parton notes that "the Texas redistricting was largely based on the idea that Trump’s 2024 win marked a massive, permanent shift of Latino voters to the GOP column," which proved untrue.

"Latino voters are not a monolith; there are regional and cultural differences. But the recent elections indicated large numbers in New York, New Jersey and Virginia had returned to the Democratic camp, a swing that could very well be equally reflected in Texas and any other state with a large Latino population," she writes.

Texas Republicans were so sure of themselves, she says, that they "indulged in what the political types call 'dummymandering'— diluting some of their safe seats where Trump won by large margins to ones where he would have won by less, and leaving themselves vulnerable, in a wave election, to losing seats instead of gaining five."