Republicans in the Texas House of Representatives have proposed their first draft of the state’s new congressional map, which aims to create five new red-leaning districts.

Currently, Republicans hold 25 of Texas’ 38 House seats.

Under the proposed map, the GOP aims to hold 30 seats.

Punchbowl News founder Jake Sherman shared the proposed Texas congressional map:

The redraw would make districts held by Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez lean more heavily Republican.

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It would also make House seats held by Democrats in the Austin, Dallas, and Houston metro areas lean red.

The Texas Tribune provided further details:

The draft, unveiled by state Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, will likely change before the final map is approved by both chambers and signed by Gov. Greg Abbott. Democrats have said they might try to thwart the process by fleeing the state.

This unusual mid-decade redistricting comes after a pressure campaign waged by President Donald Trump’s political team in the hopes of padding Republicans’ narrow majority in the U.S. House.

Currently, Republicans hold 25 of Texas’ 38 House seats. Trump carried 27 of those districts in 2024, including those won by Democratic U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar of Laredo and Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen.

Under the proposed new lines, 30 districts would have gone to Trump last year, each by at least 10 percentage points.

Here’s another look at the proposed map:

POLITICO has more:

The proposed map would also put a number of Republican and Democratic incumbents in the same district.

It only sets up one primary matchup between Democratic Reps. Greg Casar and Lloyd Doggett, avoiding any messy GOP primary fights between incumbents.

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Under the new map, six districts do not currently have an incumbent, according to data released by the Texas legislature, leaving both parties with a rushed recruitment process as they charge toward 2026.

Four of the GOP’s pickup opportunities reside in majority-Hispanic districts.

Under the new map, Republicans are eyeing earning 30 seats in Congress — from their current 25 — partly by moving Cuellar and Gonzalez into districts Trump won by double digits. The proposal would also remove three Democratic-held seats in Houston, San Antonio and Dallas and create new districts that are potential Republican pickup opportunities.

For instance, Rep. Al Green’s Ninth Congressional District in Houston would now be combined with the vacant 18th Congressional District to form a 61 percent Hispanic district in eastern Harris County, one that Trump would have won by 15 points.

But some of these incumbents are well known in the state, and may well hang on even with redrawn lines.

 

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