by Redrawing congressional district lines in favor of Republicans has been met with almost unanimous opposition from lawmakers.
Written by Philip JankowskiCorrespondent for the Austin Bureau
Arlington Residents of North Texas expressed their displeasure with the Republican-led attempt to redraw Texas congressional districts on Monday in a public hearing that frequently resembled a political rally.
At the University of Texas at Arlington, around 450 people crowded the Rosebud, and hundreds more stood outside. As lawmakers heard almost unanimous opposition to the redistricting, the crowd booed, cheered, clapped, and cried “Amen” when asked.
You already know that this is incorrect. “You know deep down that it’s wrong,” Samuel Garcia of Abilene remarked.
The PresidentIn an attempt to maintain a slim GOP majority in the U.S. House of Representatives during the impending 2026 midterm elections, Donald Trump has urged Texas lawmakers to redistrict congressional districts in an attempt to shift up to five districts from Democratic to Republican control.
Redistricting was put on the agenda for a special session of the Legislature by Governor Greg Abbott. Although lawmakers’ first focus during their brief 30-day session was the state’s reaction to the floods in the Hill Country, redistricting has taken center stage in political discourse.
Abbott justified putting redistricting on the agenda by citing a letter from the Justice Department dated July 7. Although House redistricting committee chairman state Rep. Cody Vasut, R-Angleton, stated he has not yet contacted the attorney, Harmeet Dhillon, Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate are eager to speak with the Justice Department lawyer who wrote the letter.
Vasut stated, “I have not received a formal response.” I was notified that I was out of the office.
The Senate redistricting committee’s lawmakers were still debating whether or not to subpoena Dhillon. To hear virtual testimony on redistricting, the Senate’s redistricting committee convened in Austin on Monday.
Dhillon’s letter specifically targeted four districts—three in Houston and one in North Texas—that are unlawful due to the fact that the bulk of their residents are non-white. There have been worries that Dhillon’s logic misinterprets a court decision pertaining to a recent redistricting case in Galveston.
Regarding those worries, the Justice Department has declined to comment.
According to state figures, almost 87% of the population of the Dallas-Fort Worth district, which the Justice Department is targeting, is of color. This district spans both Dallas and Tarrant counties.
Rep. Marc Veasey, a Democrat from Fort Worth, is its representative. U.S. Representatives Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, and Julie Johnson, D-Farmers Branch, joined Veasey in speaking to the House committee on Monday in Arlington.
At a rally before to the hearing, Veasey stated that Trump has drawn a line in the sand and that it is time for everyone who feels that what he is doing is wrong to rise up, fight, and speak out against this redistricting.
House Republicans have been hearing a chorus of objections to the redistricting attempt since late last week. Lawmakers have been called eager Trump sycophants and chastised for scheduling the hearings before any formal congressional maps were released.
“You’re blatant, power-hungry Trump bootlickers,” Mendi Tackett, a resident of Fort Worth, told the committee.
Commissioner Alisa Simmons of Tarrant County, whose county commission precinct was reconfigured by the commission’s Republican majority in June despite Simmons’ protests, claimed at Monday’s event that Tarrant County was a Republican testing ground for congressional redistricting.
“I’m really happy to see everyone in the newly redrawn Precinct 2 right here,” Simmons added. Okay, they jacked my seat, and I’m not pleased about it.
On Monday, members of the House did hear what seemed to be the first testimony in support of the redistricting proposals. Rich Stoglin, president of Tarrant County’s Frederick Douglass Republicans, provided that input.
Over a chorus of jeers, Stoglin declared, “As a Black American, Afghanistan veteran, and former head of the U.S. Department of Justice, I firmly support the Republican redistricting.”
Written by Philip Jankowski
For 17 years, Philip Jankowski has reported on Texas politics, government, and criminal justice. He was previously employed by the Taylor Press, the Killeen Daily Herald, and the Austin American-Statesman. The University of Texas at Austin is where Philip received his degree.
The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News have partnered to reprint this story, which was first published in The Dallas Morning News. The collaboration aims to increase coverage of communities of color in Dallas, especially in the city’s southern region.
