BBCTexas lawmakers have approved a new congressional map that aims to give Republicans an edge in next year’s U.S. House elections.
After a two-week deadlock, Democrats fled the state to get vote and rally supporters against the re-dividing plan, Republicans in the Texas House passed the new voting line with an 88-52 vote.
The maps will now head to the Texas Senate and are expected to be approved quickly.
The new map is to provide Republicans with five seats currently occupied by Democrats and in the party’s U.S. House majority. But Democratic-led states are working to redraw their maps to offset those gains.
President Donald Trump supports redrawing of maps to protect the Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, when members of Congress will vote again in 2026.
The vote comes after a dramatic standoff, with state Democrats fleeing the state to prevent the new map from being voted.
A vote must be conducted in Texas’ state legislature of 150 members, called the quorum. After Democrats fled, the Texas House became unrealized.
Texas government Greg Abbott issued arrest warrants to members of the group, and several Democrats say law enforcement has been monitoring their homes as they leave.
Councillors returned this week, saying they believed their stalls helped broad awareness of the redistricting plan and led several states to articulate their plans against Republicans.
To ensure that Democrats don’t try to stop voting again, Texas Speaker Dustin Burrows ordered the House door to lock on Monday.
He also said Democrats will be “released to the detention center of designated officials” to ensure they return to state legislators on Wednesday for a reassignment vote.
Instead, several Democrats tore up a written agreement that they were asked to sign a police escort. One state councillor, Nicole Collier, chose to sleep indoors in the House rather than being escorted by an officer.
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