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Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin will travel to Houston today to meet with Texas Democrats to discuss how to best fight back against Republican efforts to redraw the state’s congressional maps, a DNC source familiar with the planning told NBC News.
Martin is slated to meet with Texas state House Democratic Minority Leader Gene Wu, other members of the Texas Democratic legislative caucus and Democratic-aligned groups in the state to discuss strategies in battling those efforts, the source said. Martin was invited by Texas Democrats to strategize on how they can “gear up to fight back against Republicans’ blatant power grab,” the source said.
In a statement to NBC News, Martin said, “If Texas Republicans want a showdown, we will give them a showdown.”
Martin’s trip comes days ahead of a special legislative session — announced last week by Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and due to kick off Monday — that will include on its agenda consideration of the redrawing the state’s congressional maps.
Adding Republican-leaning seats in Texas could help congressional Republicans hold on to their narrow U.S. House majority in next year’s midterm elections.
“Right now, Americans all across the country are thinking of the victims of the terrible floods in Texas. You know who isn’t? Governor Abbott. He’s taking orders from Donald Trump to rig the midterm elections. We’re not going to stand for it,” Martin added.
The New York Times reported last month that members of Trump’s political operation had privately urged Texas Republicans to redraw their maps ahead of the 2026 midterms — and Trump himself Wednesday very publicly lauded the efforts, urging lawmakers to take actions that would help them gain five House seats.
“A very simple redrawing, we pick up five seats,” Trump told reporters.
Republicans hold a slim 220-212 advantage in the House. In Texas, they already control 25 of the 38 congressional districts. But padding the GOP’s majority by even just a few seats in Texas could complicate Democrats’ ability to take control of the House in 2026.
The possibility has ignited a conversation among Democrats on how to best fight back. For example, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential contender, floated redrawing his own state’s maps to counter the Republican efforts in Texas. Doing so, though, would come with major obstacles: An independent commission controls the redistricting process in California, not the governor.
Martin, however, lauded Newsom’s threats in his statement, and said he’d back the Californian’s efforts.
“Democrats like Governor Gavin Newsom are ready to punch back at this cowardly attempt to use disaster relief to rig the maps for Republicans, and the DNC is right there with him,” Martin said.