Redistricting attempts heating up around the country ahead of 2026 election

Redistricting fights around the country are heating up ahead of the 2026 election

Republicans in Texas have made it clear their plan is to follow President Trump's orders

and redistrict maps to get the GOP five additional U.S. House seats

What voters are seeing now is the elected officials saying the quiet part out loud

that this is in fact an exercise designed entirely for the purpose of partisan warfare

a food fight between the two major parties. Today, voters in Texas got their chance to

have their voices heard during a hearing on the redistricting plan. Now, most people voiced their

opposition while some Republican voters approved. These maps reflect gerrymandering with a scalpel

dipped in injustice, which amounts to legislative sin. The Bible, often quoted by many here

has a prophet by the name of Isaiah who warns, woe to those who legislate evil

As Texans, we should absolutely support redistricting, not to gain advantage, but to make sure every Texan is fairly and equally represented

As Texas moves forward with redistricting, Democratic states New York and California

have floated countermeasures, including redistricting to get more Democratic House seats. In California Governor Gavin Newsom has floated holding a special election to have voters approve new maps That strikes me as patently cynical as an argument because the whole point of you know

he's doing this in a deeply blue state on the assumption that the voters will be motivated

to come out and sort of do their part to match, you know, districting shenanigans in Texas

with their own districting shenanigans. No matter which side of the aisle, the ysts we spoke with say this redistricting fight is bad for America

We are going further and further down some rabbit hole and it doesn't lead to any place good

And it's another step in what I would regard as a dissent into just some new level of hyper partisanship that is not going to be good for the country

If states continue with this food fight at the national level, Republican versus Democratic states, we're going to be there

We're going to show up to make sure that the people have a voice. They're going to testify, talk about their communities

And if maps are passed and they're problematic, racially discriminatory, violations of state partisan gerrymandering bans, we'll go to court

So we'll be ready for this fight. For Straight Arrow News, I'm Lauren Keenan

For more unbiased straight facts, download the Straight Arrow News app or visit san.com