1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

The mid-decade redistricting is a blatant partisan power grab that undermines both the rule of law and public trust. Invoking the Department of Justice’s July letter—after Texas defended these maps as race-blind just weeks earlier—is cynical at best. Rather than correcting a genuine Voting Rights Act violation, Governor Abbott and President Trump are seizing on the DOJ’s technical findings to demand “five more seats” in Congress. That ambition is political theater, not principled enforcement. Moreover, mid-decade map changes are virtually unprecedented because they create chaos. Texans are still recovering from devastating floods, yet our legislature is consumed by litigation-ready mapmaking instead of delivering relief and rebuilding communities. Every extra day spent in court stalls critical resources for families who need them now. The Democratic lawmakers who fled the state didn’t abandon their oath—they invoked a constitutional check against extreme partisan overreach. Labeling their actions “criminal” overlooks the serious precedent of quorum breaks as a last-resort safeguard, used by both parties over more than two centuries. Meanwhile, civil-rights organizations have already filed lawsuits under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, warning that these new lines will dilute minority votes and dismantle majority-minority districts. Protracted court battles will leave voters in limbo and deepen cynicism about our political process. It’s time to stop this cycle of tit-for-tat map rewrites and focus on fair, predictable redistricting. I urge you to oppose any further mid-decade redraws and instead support: • an independent commission for the decennial process, free from raw partisan pressure • finalizing flood relief funding before tackling political maps • clear, race-neutral redistricting criteria that prevent both racial and partisan gerrymanders These reforms would respect both federal law and Texans’ right to stable, trustworthy elections. I look forward to your commitment to a transparent process that serves constituents, not party interests.