Ep 15: The Texas Map That Could Break America

 In this episode I dig into how Trump’s push to redraw Texas’s congressional map has exposed one of the most aggressive power plays in recent political history. Working hand in hand with Texas Republicans, the plan aims to lock in more GOP seats before voters ever cast a ballot in 2026. I follow the fight from the statehouse to the national stage — walkouts, lawsuits, threats of arrest — and examine the high-stakes game of political retaliation now brewing in other states. It’s a case study in how the rules of democracy can be bent, broken, and rewritten in real time. 

Transcript

Raheel Khan: 0:02

Hello, and welcome back to another episode of Khannecting the Dots. At the end of my last episode, I promised we'd dive into U-S-A-I-D one of the agencies gutted by Doge, and how those cuts affected global health and US influence. And we will get there. But there are two urgent stories unfolding right now. One here in the US and one in the Middle East that demand our attention. In this episode, we'll focus on the US story, and in the next I'll tackle the Middle East before returning to the DOGE related topics. What's happening here at home is something many people are likely tuning out as boring political theater. Honestly, I felt the same way. Redistricting controversies never sound interesting until I dug in and I realized what's happening in Texas goes far beyond the usual partisan games. This is an outright attack on the very idea of democratic representation, and as citizens who believe in democracy, we can't afford to tune this one out. Yes. I know. We hear words like"dire","brazen","democracy ending" so often that it can start to sound like hyperbole. Like the boy who cried wolf, right? But if the wolves keep coming, what are we supposed to do? Shut up and get eaten? That's not just hypothetical. Over the last several years, especially since Trump's second inauguration, our democratic norms have been under constant attack. This controversy isn't about fine tuning district lines or correcting population shifts. This is about Trump, his Justice Department, and Texas Republicans, working in perfect coordination to rig the 2026 elections before they even happen. This is a power grab, pure and simple. Before we get into the details and fallout, let's hear from the man himself, how Trump is justifying what he's doing. In a CNBC interview, Trump made his argument crystal clear: Now part of his claim is technically true. Trump did get about 6.4 million votes in Texas, more than any presidential candidate in state history. But here's the math that destroys Trump's argument. Trump won 56% of Texas votes. The new map would give Republicans 79% of the seats. That's not representation, that's rigging the game to ignore 44% of Texas voters. And if getting the highest vote in history means you deserve more seats, then what about when Biden set records in 2020? By Trump's own logic, shouldn't Democrats have deserved more seats then? Of course not, because Trump's argument is nonsense. Higher vote totals over time are just what happens when population grows. What Trump is really saying is we should get to rewrite the rules whenever it benefits us. Although this may seem like typical Trump bluster, the kind we've all learned to tune out it's important to understand why what Trump is trying to do here is so dangerous. Let's start with the basics. Every 10 years after the census states redraw their congressional districts to account for population changes. That's normal. That's how it's supposed to work. And gerrymandering it isn't new. Politicians have been rigging district lines for almost 200 years ever since Massachusetts Governor Albridge Gerry carved up a state in 1812. Over the years, some states have tried to fix this by creating independent redistricting commissions, taking the power away from politicians entirely, but those reforms take years to implement and require broad public support. As of today, only nine states have so far succeeded. But what's happening now is different. Instead of waiting for the census every 10 years, like it's always been done, Trump is trying to make gerrymandering faster and more frequent. Take Texas, for example, they last redrew their maps in 2021 after the last census. The next census is in until 2030. So why are they trying to redistrict just four years later? Because as I pointed out above, Trump told them to. It's really that simple. Trump has been pushing for this since early 2025. Declaring Republicans are entitled to pick up five additional house seats in Texas. He sees it as crucial to keeping GOP control of the house, especially with midterm elections, typically favoring the party not in the White House. And Texas Republicans, they didn't even pretend this was about anything else. Here's State Representative, Todd Hunter, the Corpus Christi Republican carrying the redistricting bill."Different from everyone else. I'm telling you, I'm not beating around the bush. We have five new districts and these five new districts are based on political performance." Political performance does not guarantee electoral success. That's up to the candidates, but it does allow Republican candidates the opportunity to compete in these districts." There you have it. No legal justification, no demographic necessity, just raw political calculation. Now, some Texas Republicans did offer an official rationale. They claimed there were concerns about the constitutionality of current districts, partly referencing pressure from Trump's Justice Department about race-based districting. But here's the problem with that story. For years, Texas has been arguing in federal court that race wasn't considered in drawing their maps. Now they're saying the Justice Department is forcing them to redraw because of racial issues. And they're quickly going along with it. The contradiction is so glaring that plaintiffs in ongoing lawsuits are using it to probe for possible false statements under oath. What's really happening is simple. Trump wants more Republican seats. Texas Republicans are happy to deliver, and they're scrambling to find any legal cover for a purely political power grab. So how did Texas Democrats respond? They did the only thing they could. They left. Over 50 Democratic legislatures packed up and left Texas, denying Republicans the quorum needed to pass the new maps. Most flew to Chicago while others went to New York and Boston. This isn't the first time something like this happened. Texas Democrats use the same tactic during voting rights fights. Understanding that sometimes breaking the process is the only way to preserve democracy itself. But Republicans aren't having it. Governor Greg Abbott threatened fines. He talked about sending state troopers to drag Democrats back. He even filed a lawsuit at the Texas Supreme Court to remove democratic lawmakers from office entirely. Just think about that for a second. Abbott wants to remove elected officials, not for corruption, not for criminal behavior, but for refusing to participate in rigging elections. Gene Wu, the Democratic Caucus chair, and one of the targeted lawmakers, put it perfectly. Denying the Governor a quorum was not an abandonment of my office. It was a fulfillment of my oath". Even Senator John Cornyn got involved. Writing to FBI Director Cash Patel requesting federal assistance to track down the Texas Democrats, Trump himself said the FBI"may have to help find and arrest of lawmakers" who fled. The escalation Continues. There have been bomb threats at hotels where Democrats are staying. Department of Public Safety Officers have visited lawmakers, relatives homes, and Abbott has threatened to expand the map to six, seven, or even eight Republican seats if Democrats don't return. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had set a Friday deadline for the Democrats to return to Texas, and when they didn't, he announced a lawsuit to remove 13 Democratic lawmakers who"made incriminating public statements regarding their refusal to return." He also sued Beto O'Rourke's organization and got a temporary restraining order halting their fundraising to support the Democrats who are being fined$500 per day, ostensibly for preventing the Texas legislature from voting. The walkout tactic can delay the redistricting, but it can't stop it forever. The current special session ends August 19th, but Abbott has threatened to call session after session until Republicans get their way. As before, Republicans will likely find a way to get their quorum and pass their maps. The Democrat strategy expose Republican actions for what they are, a naked power grab. And other states, they are not happy Texas republicans aren't just facing resistance from their own Democrats. Democrats across the country are preparing coordinated retaliation. When DNC chair Ken Martin stood with Texas Democrats in Chicago, he put it perfectly. Democratic governors are responding in kind. In New York. Governor Kathy Hochul held a press conference alongside fleeing Texas Democrats and made her intentions crystal still clear. Hochul is preparing to bypass New York's independent redistricting commission to redraw maps that could eliminate several Republican seats. In Illinois. Governor JB Pritzker is providing logistical support to Texas Democrats. And when asked about potential democratic retaliations said simply,"remember, all bets are off". Here's what Massachusetts Governor Maura Healy had to say about the Texas effort. And California Governor Gavin Newsom is preparing what he calls a trigger plan. If Texas adopts its GOP favoring map, California will bypass its independent redistricting commission and redraw its own lines to cut Republican representation in half. When news of this redistricting scandal broke in mid-July, here's how Newsom framed the stakes. And just this past Friday, Newsom stood with Nancy Pelosi and Texas Democrats saying,"we will nullify what happens in Texas". California. Lawmakers have an August 22nd deadline to get a redistricting map on the November ballot, but the move isn't set in stone. It will happen only if Texas pushes ahead with its new maps. It's a warning shot and it would be a temporary fix until the next census. Former Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who championed California's independent redistricting system, is opposing both the Texas and the Democratic retaliation. His warning, once the rules are broken, they're broken for everyone. And that's what's happening and exactly what Trump wants. A system where power, not law, determines outcomes. So can the court stop this nonsense? Supreme Court has essentially given politicians permission to rig maps for partisan advantage. In 2019, they ruled that federal courts can't stop gerrymandering just because it's unfair to one political party. As long as you're not explicitly discriminating based on race, you can draw districts however you want to help your team win. So Republicans can be as partisan as they want, and the only way to challenge them is to prove they're targeting voters specifically because of race, which is incredibly hard to prove. Those contradictory legal arguments we talked about earlier. They've given opponents some ammunition to work with, but even if lawsuits succeed, the legal battles will stretch into 2026, potentially past the next election, and that might be the plan. Creates so much legal chaos that courts can't intervene in time. Run on the clock and hold elections under rigged maps. While lawyers are still arguing in courtrooms. The message is clear. Don't count on judges to save democracy. They've already told us they won't. This fight isn't stopping with Texas. Republicans are already spreading this playbook to other states. Vice President JD Vance visited Indiana last Thursday to discuss redistricting with GOP officials. Indiana's Republican super majority legislature could be called into special session at any time. Trump is pushing Missouri Republicans to target a democratic seat in Kansas City. Ohio is already redrawing its maps. Officially due to a court order, conveniently timed to potentially add more Republican seats. Now a few Republicans have started to push back. Representative Kevin Kiley of California is introducing legislation to ban mid decade redistricting nationwide. Although his language seems primarily focused on California, leading many Democrats to be skeptical. Democratic representative Tom Suozzi, co-chair of the Bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus said"If Mr. Kylie directs the same passion equally toward what's going on in Texas, we might have something to talk about". Representative Mike Lawler of New York is pushing a separate bill to ban gerrymandering entirely. Of course, these bills are highly unlikely to pass. Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson have urged Republicans to use all the tools at their disposal to maintain power. And Republicans are rushing because Texas has one of the earliest candidate filing deadlines in the country. They only have about three months to get this done. That's part of why we're seeing the escalated timeline, the desperate legal maneuvering, the threats to remove Democrats from office. If Texas succeeds, every red state will follow the same playbook. We'll end up with a system where maps change not every decade, but every election cycle. Where whoever controls the state legislature, can we draw districts to guarantee their party's dominance. That's not representative democracy. That's rigged elections disguised as fair ones. The Texas redistricting fight isn't boring political theater. It's a fundamental test of whether American democracy can survive contact with authoritarianism. Trump and his allies aren't just trying to win the next election. They're trying to rig the system so they can't lose any election, and they're betting you'll tune out because maps and districts sound boring and there's so much else going on. They wanna overwhelm us into complacency. Don't let them win that bet. Every norm we lose makes the next norm easier to break. Every precedent we allow makes the next power grab more likely. The fight is happening right now. The pressure is intensifying. The outcome of this battle will determine whether we still live in a country where elections matter. Remember, this Texas fight is a canary in the coal mine. If we lose here, democracy doesn't just get wounded. It gets rewritten by whoever has the power to hold the pen. In order to prevent that from happening, we as citizens have to stay focused and engaged. We should all support independent, bipartisan redistricting mandates in every state. And outlaw gerrymandering, completely. Advocate for a federal ban on mid-cycle redistricting. Reach out to our state and federal representatives and demand this action. Remember, democracy lives and dies on the backs of its citizens. Thanks for listening to Khannecting the Dots. If you like what you heard, please consider subscribing, sharing with a friend, and leaving a review. Until next time, stay curious, stay critical, and stay connected.