Texas Redistricting Ignores the Working Class

Aug 18, 2025

Trump and the Republicans look like they will have to fight to keep their majorities in Congress next election. In July, the president called on the Texas state legislature to redraw its congressional districts, to give Republicans five more seats in that state—with the hope that would let them hold onto their slim majority. Normally, congressional districts are drawn after the census.

To block this power grab, fifty or so Texas legislators fled the state. They went to Democratic-led states like Illinois, New York and Massachusetts. By boycotting the legislature, these politicians are holding up the project—at least temporarily.

Democratic governors, like J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, have stepped forward, saying they will “protect” the legislators sheltering there. Pritzker and other governors are using the opportunity to grandstand, as they consider running for president in three years.

Against this anti-democratic redistricting, the Democrats offer … to do the same thing. Governor Gavin Newsom in California proposed to redistrict in his state—to give the Democrats five more seats there. Pritzker said doing the same in Illinois is “on the table”—though Illinois is so gerrymandered for the Democrats, it would be difficult to get even one additional seat for his party.

None of this has anything to do with holding down prices, creating jobs, providing education. And both parties are more than happy to take tax dollars out of public services to fund the war against Gaza and others.

In the last election, more people didn’t vote than voted for either Trump or Harris, the Democrat. That’s largely because neither party offers anything real to working people—only noisy circuses like this one.