Texas Democrats end two-week walkout over Trump-backed redistricting fight

Texas Democrats have returned to the state legislature after a two-week walkout that stalled Republican efforts to redraw congressional districts in line with President Donald Trump’s push to reshape the US House map ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

“We killed the corrupt special session, withstood unprecedented surveillance and intimidation, and rallied Democrats nationwide to join this existential fight for fair representation – reshaping the entire 2026 landscape,” Texas House Minority Leader Gene Wu said in a statement Monday.

The Democrats’ return comes as California advances a counter-redistricting effort aimed at increasing Democratic representation in Congress, escalating a partisan standoff between the country’s two most populous states.

Dozens of Texas Democrats left the state earlier this month to deny Republicans the quorum needed to pass maps projected to give five additional House seats to the GOP. Republicans adjourned the first special session without passing the measure, while Democrats claimed a tactical victory.

California Democrats unveiled proposed maps designed to expand their party’s House advantage by five seats, effectively cancelling out potential Republican gains in Texas. Governor Gavin Newsom has called a November 4 referendum to approve the changes.

Trump has urged other Republican-led states to pursue similar mid-decade redistricting, while Democratic governors have signalled they could follow California’s example. Nationally, Democrats are within three seats of reclaiming the House, where only a small number of districts remain competitive.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Trump ally, added redistricting to a special session agenda that also included flood relief measures following deadly storms this summer. Abbott accused Democrats of delaying critical aid, while Democrats argued that Abbott’s decision to tie redistricting to flood legislation created the holdup.

Redistricting traditionally occurs once a decade following the US Census, but Trump’s intervention has pushed states into unusual mid-cycle boundary battles.

The Texas House is set to reconvene later Monday.