Embedded Files
August Issue Out Now!
Lone Star vs. Golden State: Understanding the Redistricting Race
Credit: REUTERS
By Maegen Brisbois
Editor: Austin Scott
Over the course of President Donald Trump’s last seven months in office, California hasn’t hesitated to defy the president’s choices. From challenging executive orders to heavily opposing the deployment of the National Guard during the protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles, Governor Gavin Newsom has shown no signs of ceasing his resistance against the Trump Administration.
Despite it being less than a month since the protests, California has found itself in yet another fight, this time with Texas.
Texas is the second most populous state in the US, tallying in at around 31 million people, falling just short of California's population of 39 million. With 25 of its 38 representatives being Republican, it is a Republican-dominated state.
Despite being the largest Republican state, Texas still isn’t satisfied. In early August, Texas made the decision to begin a redistricting process, which if successful would grant Texas with 5 more Republican US Representatives.
Redistricting & Representation
Redistricting is the process a state undergoes when adjusting its district borders in accordance with population size.
Normally, state redistricting occurs every ten years, aligning with the Census Bureau's collection of population data. The Census shows whether or not a state’s population has increased or decreased in the last ten years since the last Census was collected.
While the Census impacts many government functions such as funding allocations, the most important thing to consider is that it determines the number of representatives a state can have.
When drafting the Constitution, the Founding Fathers were concerned about being able to fairly represent states in the government, especially when some states have larger populations than others. In a compromise, they created the House and the Senate, the two heads of the US Congress.
The Senate, composed of 100 total senators, equally represents each state with two senators each. This remains the same to ensure that each state can receive fair treatment, regardless of their population size.
On the other hand, in the House of Representatives, each state has a different number of representatives based on their population size. For example, Florida (population ~23.37 million) has 28 representatives while Alaska (population ~740,000) only has one. In total, the US House of Representatives has 435 individuals who represent the people from the 50 states.
Larger states in the House of Representatives can have more impact on votes, especially if the majority of the state’s representatives come from the same political party.
If the Census declares that regions in a state have significantly increased in population compared to nearby districts, then the state may have to redraw the district borders to ensure the representatives for the area are proportional to the amount of people.
What’s Going On In Texas?
Despite the fact that the Census shouldn’t even be conducted for another five years (2030), Texas has still managed to enact the redistricting process.
This was heavily supported by President Trump, who pushed for it in order to close the gap between the Republicans and Democrats before the midterm elections. In order to move forward with the plan, the bill pushing for redistricting had to pass through the Texas Senate.
While one might expect a process such as that to go semi-smoothly, many issues have arisen.
Before the first vote could even occur, nearly 50 state lawmakers fled Texas to delay the vote. Despite this, those who fled were shunned by fellow lawmakers and even criticized by the president himself.
“It almost looks like [Democrats have] abandoned the state" - President Donald Trump (BBC)
Their absence lasted for two weeks, but once the lawmakers returned, their Republican colleagues called for higher security detail on the Democrats to prevent another walk-out.
In response, Democrat lawmakers were told that to leave the Capitol, they would need a signed permission slip and a police chaperone when they leave to guarantee their return.
Rep. Nicole Collier decided she wouldn’t play their game, and decided to stay at the Capitol building in a form of protest. Under a self-imposed parallel to house arrest, she stayed locked in the House chamber of Texas’ capitol building for two full days.
Caption: Rep. Nicole Collier spending the night in the Texas House chamber.
The image of Rep. Collier spread on social media, making many Americans – even those living outside of Texas – aware of the situation. There were even protestors outside of the building, pushing for her release from the building. Some protestors were arrested for trying to stay once the building had closed for the night, despite the fact that most of them were peaceful.
Two Can Play At That Game
Shortly following Texas’ announcement of their redistricting plans, California’s governor Gavin Newsom announced that California would be following suit to obtain 5 Democrat seats.
Newsom has been very vocal on social media about the state’s actions, and posted this on X:
Why is California involving itself in something happening in Texas? The efforts Texas is making would help solidify the control that Republicans have over the House just in time for midterm elections in 2026.
However, if California were to do the same thing Texas is doing, and score 5 Democratic representatives, Newsom would nullify the impact of Texas’ actions.
Due to the nationwide attention brought to this matter, several more states, such as Illinois, Maryland, Florida, and Indiana have expressed interest in redistricting.
You might not feel worried about the redistricting race now, but you might care a bit more by 2026.
The midterm elections occur at every half mark of a president’s four-year term to determine which party will control the Congress (the Senate and the House of Representatives).
Ideally, the president would want Congress to be controlled by their own political party to ensure that they can further their political agenda. If the Democrats won the upcoming midterms, then they would have a better chance at slowing down President Trump’s agenda. However, if the Republicans won, President Trump’s agenda would have less encumbrances.
The more states that attempt to redistrict, the more detrimental it would be for our representation in the government. If the people aren’t being properly represented, then we have no democracy.
References
Faguy, Ana. “Texas Redistricting Feud Escalates as Democrats Face Bomb and FBI Threats.” BBC, 7 Aug. 2025, www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1jn5wpyg1jo.
Goodman, J David. “Texas Rep. Nicole Collier Slept on the House Floor in Protest.” Nytimes.com, The New York Times, 19 Aug. 2025, www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/us/politics/texas-redistricting-nicole-collier.html. Accessed 30 Aug. 2025.
Siegel, Benjamin. “Redistricting Arms Race: These Are the States in Addition to Texas and California Where Parties Could Redraw Maps.” ABC News, 21 Aug. 2025, abcnews.go.com/Politics/redistricting-arms-race-states-addition-texas-california-parties/story?id=124855541.
Google Sites
Report abuse