Whoever could've seen that one coming?
On Wednesday, with all members of both parties accounted for, the Republican House majority ruled in favor of House Bill 4, a map that will redraw Texas’ congressional districts in favor of the conservative party. Democrats, who are outnumbered in the House by 26 members, spent the afternoon condemning and shaming Republicans for the vote that everyone watching knew was coming. The bill passed 88-52.
Bills must be read three times, on three days, to be passed by a body. After the bill’s initial passage on Wednesday, the Republican majority voted to adjourn the session and reconvene to start a “new” legislative day, give the bill a third reading, and push the map through the chamber. The Texas Senate is slated to discuss and vote on the map tomorrow, and it could be on Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk by Friday.
North Texas is set to lose one of its three Democratic congressional members with the map, which strengthens the number of blue voters (and removes economic drivers such as Dallas Love Field airport) in Congressional District 30, which is held by Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. The map also combines Democratic constituencies from District 32 into CD 33, which will likely remain a Democratic seat. CD 32, held by Congresswoman Julie Johnson, is expected to go to a Republican representative for the first time since 2018.
“District 32 has been carved into a 175-mile fajita strip that dilutes and disenfranchises voters,” said Democrat Rep. Cassandra Garcia Hernandez, whose district includes Farmers Branch and Coppell.
It isn't often that we struggle to find humor in the Texas Legislature, but Wednesday's hearing was anything but tense. Democrats finger-wagged for hours, and Republicans openly mocked them for doing so. The voices of hundreds of Texans who showed up to hours-long hearings in Austin, Houston and Arlington were largely pushed to the side in favor of politicking.
We weren't even impressed with the Democrats' color coordination, which would typically be a major topic of conversation in Observer group chats.
Democrats did attempt to introduce amendments to HB 4, but those were routinely swatted down under "point of order" (poo) calls. One, introduced by Democratic Representative Gene Wu, would have kept the redrawn maps from going into effect until the Epstein files are released. Another, authored by Rep. Diego Bernal, would have rendered the maps moot until congressional funding to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is restored. That, too, was thrown out.from the mind that brought you budget surplus green, i give you house arrest green 👮💚
— capitol girl (@txcapitolgirl) August 20, 2025
these kings & queens have been absolutely slaying on the redistricting red carpet in some stunning house arrest green this week inspired by the unshakable collier 💅
13/10 #txlege https://t.co/oyflbV21LL pic.twitter.com/oVW9Wrr8Xo
Other Democratic representatives condemned their conservative colleagues for pursuing redistricting legislation ahead of bills that would address safety at summer camps like Camp Mystic, where 27 girls and counselors were killed in flooding on July 4. Oni Blair, executive director of the ACLU of Texas, issued a similar criticism of the process.
While the House debated HB 4, parents of the Dallas girls killed in the Camp Mystic flooding testified before the Senate.
“Before passing any disaster relief, Gov. Abbott and his legislative allies redrew voting maps behind closed doors to further disenfranchise Black, Brown, and Asian American voters," said Blair in a statement. "It’s disgraceful that Texas lawmakers chose to advance President Trump’s extreme agenda while turning their backs on the thousands of families still reeling from one of the deadliest floods in state history."
Before the second reading, Crockett chimed in on X to give the Texas Senate Democrats some advice, tweeting, "It’s time for the Texas Senate to break quorum! It’s time to show these republicans that respect is earned & disrespect & bullying won’t be tolerated!"dEmOcrAts aRe pReVeNTing fLoOD rELiEf !!!!
— Rafael Anchía (@RafaelAnchia) August 20, 2025
Meanwhile, GOP priority bill is #Gerrymandering #TexasRedistricting pic.twitter.com/VJ2FKBQbfy
It wouldn't be the first time that Texas Democratic senators broke quorum over redistricting plans. A group of them did so in 2003 during a special legislative session after their House colleagues did so in the regular session. Stay tuned to see if history repeats itself.
