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- The Blast - August 1, 2025
The Blast - August 1, 2025
The Blast | Texas Tribune
August 01, 2025
By Renzo Downey and The Texas Tribune Politics Team
18 days until sine die
IN TODAY’S BLAST
All eyes on Texas Democrats
The openly political gerrymander
Allred testifies
What will Doggett do?
ALL EYES ON TEXAS DEMOCRATS
With questions about a potential quorum break circling the Capitol, attention is turning to next week as a potential turning point.
Seeing the proposed 30-8 map has lit a fire under Texas Democrats, according to sources in the room for U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ private meeting with Democratic state lawmakers late Wednesday.
“I have enormous confidence, after Leader Jeffries’ meeting with all of us last night, that Texas Democrats are ready to show the country what a real fight looks like,” U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Austin, told reporters the following morning.
National Democrats also want Texas Dems to know they’re watching.
“It’s not simply the case that help is on the way,” Jeffries said at the Thursday press conference. “Help is here, and we stand with Texas Democrats.”
One form of help is donors who can provide financial cover to Democratic lawmakers who rack up $500 daily fines for breaking quorum.
“It’s an all hands on deck moment, and all options should be on the table to protect the people of Texas,” Jeffries added, when asked whether he’s pushing members for a quorum break. “Texas Democrats are going to be the ones to decide.”
The night before, Jeffries told The Blast he didn’t bring up a breaking quorum during their private meeting:
“It’s not something that I raised, but it clearly is something that’s on the minds of people in the state Capitol.”
At the start of the House’s redistricting hearing today, Chair Cody Vasut, R-Angleton, said the committee will take action on the bill tonight or tomorrow. Additionally, he anticipates the map will be on the House floor on Tuesday, which make next week decision time for House Democrats.
Of course, that would be up to the Calendars Committee, which is chaired by House map author Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi.
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THE OPENLY POLITICAL GERRYMANDER
Hunter gave a lengthy layout of his proposal in today’s hearing, defending it as a proper political gerrymander.
“Different from everyone else, I’m telling you, I’m not beating around the bush,” Hunter said. “We have five new districts, and these five new districts are based on political performance.”
Republicans are openly admitting the political nature of the redraw perhaps to get their justification on the record. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that partisan gerrymandering is OK but has affirmed restrictions on racial gerrymandering. Being able to point to the political criteria in court will help when the cartographers have to defend the racial composition of some of the districts.
Some Republicans point out that Democratic-led states have Republican congressional representation far below what would be proportional based on the statewide vote. California has a Cook Partisan Voting Index of D+12 but the delegation is split 43-9. Illinois is D+6 but split 14-3. New York is D+8 but split 19-7.
However, Hunter and Republicans’ openness may also be contributing to the brazenness, as some Democrats have put it, of the mid-decade redistricting. The openly political maneuver, called at the behest of President Donald Trump, is helping form a national coalition of Democrats, particularly Democratic governors, to counter the Texas redistricting play.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker are all considering congressional redraws — maybe even extreme ones. In the state Capitol yesterday, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York pointed out that he was in Texas because Austin is currently the center of the national political battleground.
Democrats are worked up now, but it’s also important to note that the first proposal won’t necessarily be the final one.
Historically, the House and Senate present their own proposals before a final draft is adopted. After Wednesday’s Senate redistricting hearing, Chair Phil King, R-Weatherford, told The Blast there is no timeline for presenting their own map. But one could be in the works.
King announced the committee has hired BakerHostetler as counsel on redistricting. The D.C.-based firm has extensive experience defending GOP-drawn districts.
Hunter says he hired Butler Snow, which was also co-counsel for the Texas House Redistricting Committee during the 2021 redistricting. He also denied that Adam Kincaid, president and executive director of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, drew the House’s proposal.
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ALLRED TESTIFIES
After getting flak for not showing up to any of the first seven redistricting hearings, senatorial candidate and former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred was in the Capitol today to testify against the House’s proposal.
The Democrat from Dallas flipped TX-32 blue in 2018. The House’s proposal would move the district out of the city, instead having it stretch from the north side of the county all the way to Upshur County, nearly to Longview, making it a seat President Donald Trump would’ve won by 18 points last year.
However, Allred missed the entire first phase of hearings.
“Colin Allred does not deserve to be the Democratic nominee for United States Senator from the state of Texas,” Houston Democratic strategist Shea Jordan Smith posted on Wednesday. “How is your former congressional district among those being targeted by Republican gerrymandering, and you failed to show up to a single #txlege redistricting hearing?”
But he was there today. He leaned on his experience as a civil rights attorney in his testimony, and with more fervor than he displayed during much of his 2024 campaign, Allred invoked the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis’ fight for civil rights, including the Voting Rights Act.
“That meant something,” he said. “There was blood spilt for this. People died.”
“These districts, the way they’re drawn, they’re not even cohesive,” Allred continued, pointing out that his old district could now stretch from Dallas County to East Texas. “How can you represent some of these communities? ... Where’s your district office going to be?”
Another candidate, Republican TX-18 special election candidate Carmen María Montiel, testified against the House’s proposed map. She seemingly opposed it on the basis that different racial communities should have the ability to elect someone with their values.
Her proposed district in Houston would be 45% Black and 30% Hispanic while Harris County is plurality Hispanic.
“New districts should not be coalition districts,” she said.
Then-Vice President Kamala Harris would’ve won 76% of the vote in the proposed TX-18.
WHAT WILL DOGGETT DO?
Austin’s Democratic congressmen, Lloyd Doggett and Greg Casar, would be grouped into one single Democratic-leaning district under the proposed maps, and Doggett isn’t entertaining questions about if that comes to be.
“Greg made a great statement,” Doggett told the Tribune’s Kayla Guo yesterday following Democrats’ joint press conference. “We are united in fighting this plan, and we’re not going to talk about what ifs if we’re not able to kill it.”
Doggett, 78 and dean of the Texas congressional delegation, is a leading progressive. Casar, 36, is chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and a rising star within the Democratic Party.
Notably, Doggett was the first Democratic congressman to call for President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 election.
Doggett has already filed to run for reelection in his district, as currently drawn.
“Two thirds of the people that are in that congressional district I represent today,” Doggett said. “There’s a lot of eagerness to talk about a horse race when we have to focus on what Trump is doing wrong and how we stop it. I think horse races only divide us when we need to be united to stop this point.”
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Senate actions:
Next week:
The House will convene at 10 a.m. on Monday.
The Senate will convene at 4 p.m. on Monday.
SD-9: U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz endorsed Patriot Mobile executive Leigh Wambsganss in the race to fill the seat left vacant by acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock. Wambsganss has been endorsed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC.
HD-129: Republican businessman Bob Mitchell launched his campaign for the seat held by state Rep. Dennis Paul, R-Houston. Paul is running for the state Senate and has endorsed Scott Bowen, along with other conservative lawmakers and groups.
Gov. Greg Abbott called out Austin for considering a property tax increase to close its budget gap: “We must stop them from raising property taxes [and] stop spending increases,” Abbott posted.
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“Why the proposed Texas congressional map may not be a lock to net five new GOP seats” by Kayla Guo and Gabby Birenbaum of The Texas Tribune
“‘Doggett should take his own advice’: Proposed Texas map is already turning Democrats against each other” by Daniella Diaz of NOTUS
“Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell moved to minimum-security Texas prison” by Elissa Jorgensen and Keri Blakinger of the Houston Chronicle
“Why the best chance to save Jacob’s Well drained away” by Forrest Wilder of Texas Monthly
CNN's @mkraju asks @LloydDoggettTX if he'll run against @GregCasar now that they're in the same seat. He coughs and suggests young members are good on "social media" but limited.
"We do need young leaders, but we don't need everyone on our team to play the same position."
— David Weigel (@daveweigel)
5:12 PM • Aug 1, 2025
Do you or someone in your office have a birthday you’d like mentioned? Email us.
(Aug. 1) State Rep. Terry Meza, D-Irving
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