A political showdown is unfolding in Texas, where state Republican lawmakers are trying to game the system to give their national party an advantage in next year’s midterm elections. They’ve hit a temporary roadblock, for now. But the whole gambit has huge national implications.

If you’re just tuning in, a quick summary: In July, President Donald Trump told reporters that he wanted lawmakers in Texas to redraw the state’s congressional districts to flip five currently Democratic-held seats in Republicans’ favor. Redrawing congressional maps, known as redistricting, usually happens every decade across the country, after the US Census has collected the most recent demographic information in each state and maps can be drawn to better represent each state’s population.

Trump’s middle-of-the-

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