During an explosive hearing at the Texas statehouse on Friday, Democrats in Congress railed against the Texas GOP’s newly gerrymandered congressional map, accusing Republicans of purposely carving Democratic lawmakers out of their current districts.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who said she planned to challenge the proposed map in court, said officials from the Texas Legislature asked members of Congress to confirm their addresses before the new map was released — only to watch Republicans place them outside of their districts.
“I don’t know how many of us actually still reside in the districts that we represent. I do not currently reside in my district based upon the plan that has been drawn,” Crockett said.
It’s common practice for the Legislature to ask lawmakers about their addresses when redistricting, two sources familiar with the process told NOTUS. But Crockett was alarmed that multiple Democratic members were removed from their districts.
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She said that at least five Texas House Democrats — Reps. Mark Veasey, Joaquin Castro, Julie Johnson, Lizzie Fletcher and herself — were drawn out of the districts they currently represent.
The Austin-area districts of Reps. Lloyd Doggett and Greg Casar were also combined, meaning both will likely have to face each other in a Democratic primary. Doggett, who is 78, has already filed to run for reelection.
“They took all of us out. They basically left the numbers somewhere else and removed us,” Crockett said, adding that it was something the courts would have to look at.
“I will be clear that I have every intention of going to court as soon as possible to get an emergency action done,” she said.
The chair of the Texas state House Select Committee on Redistricting, state Rep. Cody Vasut, said he “was not aware” of the reason why these lawmakers were removed from their districts after they provided their addresses.
“We’ll look into it,” Vasut said.
But other Democratic members of Congress made the case that the new congressional map violated other federal court precedents, as well as potentially the Voting Rights Act.
Veasey said his district “was created by a federal court to ensure that communities of color, Black and brown Texans, could finally have a voice in Congress.” (His district, Texas’ 33rd, was created after a federal court found that a 2011 congressional map drawn by state Republicans discriminated against voters of color.)
“Now that voice is again under threat,” Veasey said. “This is a map that was drawn behind closed doors, as we’ve heard here today, to dismantle representation and weaken our power.”
Rep. Sylvia Garcia, who represents a majority Latino district, said her district currently has a “Hispanic citizen voting age percentage of 63.5%,” but that the new congressional map “lowers this by 20 points, down to 43%.” This, she said, would result in “Latino candidates having diminished chance of winning nomination in primary elections.”
The new map “dismantles a protected Latino opportunity district,” Garcia continued. “I urge you to stop this illegal redistricting and focus on the true needs of Texans.”
Casar also railed against Republicans in his testimony, accusing them of merely following orders from President Donald Trump, who said earlier this month that he wanted Texas lawmakers to redraw the state’s congressional map to pick up five Republican seats. The new map attempts to flip five Democratic seats in the upcoming midterm elections, increasing the Texas GOP’s stranglehold of the map from 25 of the 38 seats to 30 of the 38 — in a state where Kamala Harris won 42% of the vote in 2024.
“The Republican members on this dais have outsourced our state’s democracy to Mar-a-Lago and to the Oval Office,” Casar said. “In this proposed map, 10-million Texans would get thrown out of their district into another district for no good reason, and two-thirds of those who are getting moved around are Texans of color.”
“This proposal illegally suppresses the votes of black and Hispanic and working-class Americans,” Casar continued. “Please do not tear apart our home for the benefit of Donald Trump.”
Democrats overall warned that if Republicans pass the map as it stands, it could have ripple effects across the country. California Gov. Gavin Newsom is reportedly planning to redraw the state’s congressional map to eliminate GOP seats in response to Texas’ redistricting.
“I mean, if I’m Darrell Issa, I’m thinking, ‘I’m calling the chairman of the Texas legislature right now.’ If I’m Rep. [Ken] Calvert, if I’m any of those Republicans, I’m like, ‘Dude, what are y’all doing to us? Y’all about to make us lose our seats too,” Veasey said. “That’s not good for our country.”
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