() The battle over Texas’ redistricting could send ripple effects through multiple other states, as both Republicans and Democrats try to secure as many congressional seats as possible.  

Texas state lawmakers plan to redraw the congressional district lines, which would be atypical. Lines are usually redrawn every 10 years following the census.  

In a special session, Republicans are looking to redraw the maps to create more districts that would likely vote for their candidates. Currently, they hold 25 of the state’s 38 seats. 

Their goal would be to draw the lines such that five seats would go from having a Democratic representative to a Republican one.

If Texas Republicans follow through with their redistricting plans, Democrats in California and other Democratic-led states say they plan to fight back.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday repeated his threat to redraw his state’s congressional map to offset any moves by Texas Republicans. California has 52 seats in the House, with only nine currently held by Republicans.

Democrat Newsom said he’s looking at several options, including asking voters as soon as this November to modify California’s system of independent redistricting. Currently, the redistricting process occurs at the beginning of each decade.

“The game has changed. They don’t even want to play by the same set of rules,” Newsom said of Republicans. He was joined by Democratic state legislators from Texas during a California news conference. “In fact, they just want to throw the entire board, and they want to throw it all out. It is a five-alarm fire.”

Former House Speaker and California Representative Nancy Pelosi told she would rather not have to redistrict “in the middle of a decade.”

“But if that’s the game that the Republicans want to play, we have to make sure that they know we’re going to put everything on the table,” she said.

With midterm elections coming up in November 2026, Republicans have a very slim majority in Congress, so the possibility of losing their control of the chamber is real. Therefore, every seat matters.

President Donald Trump reportedly called Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and requested redistricting, though Abbott was initially resistant, as first reported by the Texas Tribune and confirmed by . 

To justify the move, Abbott has cited a letter from Trump’s Justice Department that expressed concern that four majority-minority Texas congressional seats that had been won by Democrats may have unconstitutional lines, arguing they were drawn along racial lines in 2021 after the census.

But at a recent press conference, Texas Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett noted Republicans were the ones that drew, and approved, the lines for those districts four years ago.

Democrats do not appear to be taking this lightly, calling the redistricting move “corrupt” and an example of gerrymandering, which is designed to “manipulate the boundaries of (an electoral constituency) so as to favor one party or class,” according to Oxford Languages.

Texas isn’t the only state redrawing maps. Democrats expect similar actions in Ohio and possibly Florida and Missouri.

In response, other blue states are taking notice. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy told reporters recently that while it’s “too early” to make a definitive statement on the issue, he also said, “Never bring a knife to a gunfight.”

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said he thinks every state should play by the rules, as reported by Capitol News Illinois. But if Texas and other red states don’t, “We’re all going to have to band together to try to address that,” referring to Democratic states.

Redistricting does not come without potential repercussions, no matter which party attempts to do it.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair, Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, recently warned, “For them [Republicans] to try to break up Democratic-held districts, they will have to weaken Republican districts, who already are facing political headwinds … it’s going to expand the battleground in the race for the majority.”

But the same is true for Democrats. Rep. John Garamendi told that while he believes what Texas is doing is illegal and contrary to the Voting Rights Act, which has a provision to “ensure that redistricting plans do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, or membership in a protected language minority group,” he also said, “I think we need to be very careful.”

None of the Democrats spoke with want to have to take up a redistricting fight but will if needed, including New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who said, “If we want to keep good redistricting … then Donald Trump and the Republican Party should put their pens down in Texas because they will uncork this across the country.”

Other Democrats, like former President Barack Obama, are preparing to fight back as well. Obama is scheduled to appear at a fundraiser for a Democratic redistricting group next month on Martha’s Vineyard.

Democratic Texas Congressman Marc Veasey assailed Republicans, saying the special session was supposed to focus on recent flooding in the state and instead is being used to pass new congressional lines despite Texas being a majority-minority state. 

“They know they have to cheat to win … they’re using these catastrophic floods as a political ploy and cover to silence the voices of millions of Texans, mainly Hispanic, Black and Asian Texans … don’t trust this when they say race has nothing to do with this,” said Veasey.

reached out to Texas GOP Reps. Beth Van Duyne and August Pfluger for comment but did not receive a response.

At least three public hearings on redistricting are scheduled in Texas.