The political standoff in Texas between state Democrats and Republicans has escalated after more than 50 state Democratic lawmakers fled the state. At the center of the battle is President Donald Trump’s pursuit of five more congressional seats that could cost Democrats and help the GOP keep its slim control in the U.S. House.
In early July, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican and close Trump ally, added redistricting to the agenda for a special legislative session. Abbott cited concerns raised by the Department of Justice that four existing, Democratic-leaning districts are unconstitutional. But redistricting mid-decade is unprecedented and typically occurs every 10 years following the U.S. Census Bureau’s decennial census.
Texas state Democrats are MIA as Republican lawmakers try to push through a controversial redistricting bill. Over 50 state Democratic lawmakers left the state because, without a quorum, GOP lawmakers cannot move the bill through.
Jamarr Brown, executive director of the Color of Change PAC, says this battle the GOP lawmakers created is a ploy designed to dilute political power in Black and brown communities.
“This process that is happening in the mid-decade is not honoring the current demographic makeup of the state,” Brown, who also served as the executive director for the Texas Democratic Party, tells BLACK ENTERPRISE. “When you draw or redraw maps, you’re always supposed to draw that map based on population data. How can you do that when you did not participate in a census process to understand what that data is?”
Texas Is Growing. Black and Brown Communities Are Behind The Boom
One fact that both Texas Democrats and Republican lawmakers agree on is that Texas is one of the fastest-growing states in the country. The latest numbers as of 2024 show an estimated 31 million people living in the state. Texas’s population has grown by nearly 1.3 million people between 2020 and 2023, representing a 4.7% increase.
“We know that in the last census, 95% of the population growth in Texas was attributed to people of color, particularly Black and brown communities,” says Brown. “So, what lawmakers did was place a white majority district in Austin and one in Houston.”
According to Brown, this isn’t state lawmakers’ first rodeo with gerrymandering. In 2021, the new map reduced the number of districts where Black and Hispanic residents made up the majority of eligible voters. Currently, Republicans hold 25 of Texas’s 38 House seats compared to the Democrats’ 13. The proposed map could help Republicans pick up five more seats. This could mean that 30 of the state’s districts could favor Republicans, leaving Democrats with just eight.
“Interestingly enough, all of this happened after
their ‘Big Ugly Bill’ passed by one vote in the House and passed by a tie breaker of the Vice President in the Senate,” says Brown. “Since they can’t gerrymander the Senate, the next place they go is to the U.S. House.”He adds, “This all is a ploy to ensure that Donald Trump stays in power to continue to cause harm to communities, continue to pass policies that restrict people’s healthcare and access to food, education, and civil rights protections. This is what they released in their 900-page-long agenda, Project 2025.”
Texas Battle Comes Amid The Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act
The redistricting map battle in Texas comes on the heels of the anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It’s been over 60 years since President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the landmark U.S. federal statute that prohibits racial discrimination in voting, on Aug. 6. The last time the Voting Rights Act was reinstated was by President George W. Bush in 2006.
Over the last few decades, both Republican and Democratic presidents have supported the federal statute. However, in 2013, the Supreme Court invalidated a key provision in the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder. The Supreme Court’s ruling eliminated the “preclearance” requirement, which mandated that certain jurisdictions with a history of discrimination obtain federal approval before changing voting laws.
Brown says that since former President Barack Obama took office, Republicans have created a coordinated effort to create barriers for Black and brown voters.
“Follow the timeline. In 2010, all of a sudden, we needed voter ID laws. Later on, laws were passed to restrict early and absentee voting, and mail-in voting,” he says. “In Georgia, lawmakers made it illegal to give voters in line water or food […]That is the design of their strategy. It’s to weigh us down so much that we don’t fight and that we do feel powerless.”
Texas Democrats Likely Will Run the Clock Out on Special Session
It remains unclear how long Democratic state lawmakers will be able to stall. While Texas Republicans have the necessary votes to pass the redistricting bill, they need the presence of Democrats in the room to conduct business. The Texas House requires 100 members present. There are only 88 Republicans in the Texas House.
State Democrats will likely run the clock out on the current special session, which is slated to end on Aug. 19. However, Gov. Abbott has the authority to call special sessions until the bill goes through.
In the meantime, Brown is encouraging people to support Texas Democrats and donate to their cause because many of them hold second jobs due to Texas’s part-time legislative calendar. He also wants voters, especially those who are exhausted with actions under the Trump administration, to stay involved.
“What we need people nationwide to do is fight for independent maps, but we also need people to still vote in these elections,” he says. “When our voting performance decreases, it allows them to do what they’re doing now: take away two Black opportunity districts in Texas.”
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Every third Thursday of the month, Brown’s organization, COC PAC, holds a “Squad Call” for people to express how they are feeling in that moment and to empower voters. It’s a space for Black and brown voters to vent frustrations and develop an action plan. For more information, visit www.votingwhileblack.com