Redistricting push advances in Texas

Texas Republicans on Wednesday took the first step toward approving new congressional maps that would give their party as many as five new seats in the House of Representatives, sparking what's likely to be a national battle over redistricting.

- JIM VERTUNO AND NICHOLAS RICCARDI

A PROTESTER at Texas' House chamber catches the attention of state Sen. Juan Hinojosa this week.

The approval by Texas' GOP-controlled House of Representatives came at the urging of President Trump, who pushed for the extraordinary mid-decade revision of congressional maps to give his party a better chance at holding on to the U.S. House in next year's election. The maps need to be approved by the state Senate and signed by Gov. Greg Abbott before they become official.

Texas state legislative Democrats delayed the vote by two weeks by fleeing the state this month in protest and were assigned round-the-clock police monitoring upon their return to ensure they attended Wednesday's session.

The approval of the Texas maps on an 88-52 party-line vote is likely to prompt California's Democrat-controlled Legislature this week to approve of new House maps creating five new Democratic-leaning districts. Unlike in Texas, the California maps would require approval by voters in November before they become official.

Democrats have also vowed to sue to challenge the new Texas maps and complained that Republicans made the political power move before passing legislation responding to deadly floods that swept the state last month.

State Rep. Todd Hunter, who wrote the legislation formally creating the new maps, noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed politicians to redraw districts for nakedly partisan purposes. "The underlying goal of this plan is straightforward: improve Republican political performance," Hunter, a Republican, said as debate began.