AUSTIN, Texas —

The Texas Senate could vote Friday to approve new congressional maps drawn to help Republicans win as many as five more House seats in next year’s midterm elections.

It’s the final legislative hurdle for the redistricting plan sought by President Donald Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott — one that ignited an intensifying, nationwide redistricting arms race.

California Democrats responded to the Texas effort on Thursday by approving their own new congressional maps, a Gov. Gavin Newsom-led bid to nullify the GOP’s gains in Texas by handing Democrats five more favorable House districts.

Newsom’s plan will require another significant step: In California, where voters took the power to draw congressional maps away from lawmakers in 2010, implementing the Democrats’ new maps will

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