Texas legislators today approved a new state congressional map drawn at the behest of President Donald Trump to flip five Democratic-held U.S. House seats in next year’s midterm elections, after dozens of Democratic lawmakers ended a two-week walkout that had temporarily blocked passage.
Republican legislators, who have dominated Texas politics for over two decades, have undertaken a rare mid-decade redistricting to help Trump improve their party’s odds of preserving its narrow U.S. House of Representatives majority amid political headwinds.
Legislators approved the new map in an 88-52 vote along party lines; under the body’s procedural rules, final passage of the bill will require another vote that was expected later today. The map, which will have to be reconciled with the state Senate