Texas is undergoing redistricting now primarily because Republican lawmakers, urged by former President Donald Trump, are redrawing the state's congressional districts mid-decade to gain a partisan advantage ahead of the 2026 U.S. House of Representatives elections. The goal is to increase the number of Republican seats in Congress by adding five additional seats favoring Republicans. This mid-decade redistricting is unusual since redistricting typically occurs every ten years after the census. The effort was spurred by concerns from Trump and the GOP that losing the House in 2026 could hinder Trump's legislative agenda and lead to investigations into him. In June and July 2025, the Texas Legislature, led by Republicans, began considering and pushing a new redistricting plan, even calling a special legislative session in July after a Justice Department letter gave Texas legal authority to redraw districts citing racial discrimination concerns in current maps. Democrats staged protests and fled the state in an attempt to block the redistricting, but Republicans continued their efforts. Governor Greg Abbott has signed the new map into law, officially enacting the changes that make Texas more politically favorable for Republicans, converting five Democratic seats to Republican ones. This redistricting battle in Texas is also part of a larger national political struggle, with other states like California responding by redrawing their own maps to counterbalance the partisan shifts, setting up a significant contest over control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections.