Amanda Becker

Washington Correspondent

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When Erin Zwiener finished taking the bar exam last Wednesday afternoon and walked out into the Texas heat, the aspiring lawyer was looking forward to one thing: Enjoying the final days of summer vacation with her daughter before she begins second grade.

Then she checked her phone.

Zwiener is a Democrat in the Texas House of Representatives, where since 2019 she has represented a district south of Austin that includes most of Hays County. She saw missed messages about Texas Republicans’ release earlier that day of a new voting map designed to flip five seats in the U.S. House currently held by Democrats — satisfying a demand that came from Republican President Donald Trump’s White House .

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