Texas Republicans set redistricting hearings; Democrats say Legislature must first address deadly floods

Texas Republicans have scheduled redistricting hearings in various cities, as outnumbered Democrats say they will use any tactic necessary to halt an effort to redraw the boundaries.

The first public hearing is set for Thursday in Austin. The House Redistricting Committee will then meet Saturday at the University of Houston. The final public hearing is scheduled for Monday at the University of Texas at Arlington.

The hearings are meant to gather public opinion about the plan, which seeks to maintain a Republican majority in the U.S. House following next year’s midterm elections. President Donald Trump is pushing for lawmakers to redraw district lines to flip five Democratic seats in the U.S. House, including one in Dallas and three in Houston.

State lawmakers convened Monday for the special session, ordered by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to address a long list of issues, including regulation of hemp-derived THC and the deadly July 4 Hill Country floods.

Democrats have argued the Legislature must first address the floods, which killed more than 100 people, including dozens of children. Abbott called on lawmakers to improve early warning systems, strengthen emergency communications, provide relief funding and streamline regulations related to responding to disasters.

Redistricting typically occurs every 10 years, at the start of a decade following the release of Census data. Changing the map mid-decade is unusual but not unheard of. The Legislature last redrew district lines in 2021, and that effort was largely viewed as shoring up GOP districts after several Republicans lost seats in the 2018 midterm elections.

Democrats say they are considering several options to fight the redistricting and have not ruled out fleeing the state, known as breaking quorum, a tactic employed by Democrats in 2003 to stop the redrawing of district lines and in 2021 to protest changes in voting laws.

The Department of Justice indicated the Texas seats held by Democrats are illegal because they created large coalitions of nonwhite voters, according to a letter the governor cited as his reason for including redistricting in the special session. They include the district represented by U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, a Fort Worth Democrat, which snakes through Tarrant and Dallas counties, capturing large numbers of nonwhite voters. Veasey has called the redistricting effort “disgusting.”

State Sen. Phil King, a Granbury Republican, said Democrats’ questions would best be answered in committee hearings and lawmakers are evaluating the boundaries from a “race-blind perspective.”