Republican-controlled Texas legislators approved an initial state congressional map intended to flip five Democratic-held US House seats in next year's midterm elections. The map advanced after Democratic state legislators ended a two-week walkout that had temporarily blocked passage. Democratic legislators objected that the map was not made available during public hearings and argued it was designed to dilute the voting power of Black, Latino and Asian voters. Republicans argued the map would improve political performance and increase majority-Hispanic districts. President Trump urged the mid-decade revision to help Republicans retain the US House. The map still requires state Senate approval and the governor's signature to become official.
Texas legislators have passed a new state congressional map drawn at the behest of United States President Donald Trump to flip five Democratic-held US House seats in next year's midterm elections, after dozens of Democratic lawmakers ended a two-week walkout that had temporarily blocked passage. On Wednesday evening, legislators in the Republican-controlled Texas House of Representatives gave initial approval to the map, though Democratic lawmakers noted during the session that the map was not made available during public hearings.
Representative John Bucy, a Democrat, said from the House floor before passage of the bill that the new maps were clearly intended to dilute the voting power of Black, Latino and Asian voters, and that his Republican colleagues' bending to the will of Trump was deeply worrying. This is not democracy, this is authoritarianism in real time, Bucy said. This is Donald Trump's map.
Republicans argued the map was created to improve political performance and would increase majority-Hispanic districts. The approval by the Texas House of Representatives came at the urging of President Trump, who pushed for the extraordinary mid-decade revision of congressional maps to give his party a better chance at holding on to the US House of Representatives in next year's election. The maps need to be approved by the state Senate and signed by Governor Greg Abbott before they become official.
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