The Texas House of Representatives voted Wednesday 88-52 down party lines to redraw the state’s U.S. congressional districts, ending a dramatic, weeks-long saga that Democrats sought to delay by fleeing the state in a last-ditch attempt to deny Republicans a quorum.
The unusual mid-decade redistricting effort was carried out at the behest of President Donald Trump, who said he wanted five more safely Republican seats to help the party maintain its majorities in Congress after next year’s midterm elections.
“The Big Beautiful Map will ADD 5 GOP districts to our congressional delegation - A HUGE WIN for the conservative movement in Texas!” the state’s Republican House caucus wrote on X following the vote.
The partisan redistricting push also kicked off a tit-for-tat retaliation in several blue states — most notably California, whose state Democrats also began their own serious attempts at mid-decade redistricting to balance out the Texas changes.
The measure must be passed by the Texas Senate, which previously approved updated map in a special session. It will then go to Gov. Greg Abbott, a Trump ally, who has indicated he supports the new map after conversations with the president.
🚨PASSED THE HOUSE🚨 The Big Beautiful Map will ADD 5 GOP districts to our congressional delegation - A HUGE WIN for the conservative movement in Texas! pic.twitter.com/KrN3MvTR82
— Texas House Republican Caucus (@TXGOPCaucus) August 20, 2025
The debate before the vote, which took close to eight hours, was mostly calm — though tensions boiled over in a few tense exchanges as Democrats rose to propose a different map, ask pointed questions about the Republican-drawn districts and accused the majority party of violating the Voting Rights Act.
The buzz around the redistricting fight sparked multiple security threats in the lead-up to the vote. Police cleared protestors off the state Capitol grounds Tuesday evening, citing a suspicious social media post. Many were there to support state Rep. Nicole Collier, who refused a Republican demand that Democrats have around-the-clock police escorts once they leave the statehouse to ensure their return for the vote.
Collier then spent a second night in the Capitol on Tuesday, this time joined by several colleagues. Democrats from the state’s U.S. delegation, including Reps. Greg Casar, Lloyd Doggett and Al Green, joined protests outside the statehouse in Austin during Wednesday’s debate.
This article has been corrected to note the Texas Senate must vote on the measure before it goes to the governor’s desk