In a hotel on the west side of Chicago, about 30 Democratic lawmakers from Texas have taken over the breakfast buffet. There and in meeting rooms, they plot their next move in a fight against their Republican colleagues and Governor Greg Abbott , who have engaged in a brazen play to gerrymander the state’s congressional map at President Donald Trump’s request.

It all began in mid-July when Trump told reporters he wanted Texas to redo its congressional districts to protect the GOP’s slim majority in the House. “Just a simple redrawing, we pick up five seats,” he said. Abbott then heeded the call, announcing a special legislative session to pass a flood-relief bill and a new map that would be more friendly to his party in the midterms. It was an open play to fix the map in Republica

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