1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

I’m writing as a Texan who is ashamed of the state leadership that participated in Donald Trump’s attempt to rig the 2026 midterms through illegal mid-decade redistricting. A federal court blocked this power grab on Tuesday, ruling that Texas cannot use the new congressional map designed to dilute Black and Hispanic voting power and hand Republicans five more seats they didn’t earn. Governor Abbott, Attorney General Paxton, and the Republican legislature pushed this through at Trump’s direct request while our communities were recovering from catastrophic flooding. This wasn’t about serving Texans. It was about serving Trump’s personal interest in maintaining power by any means necessary, including racial gerrymandering that a three-judge panel found unconstitutional. Trump has proven repeatedly that he values his own interests over democracy and the rule of law. He demanded Texas lawmakers abandon flood victims to gerrymander congressional districts mid-decade. Paxton threatened to jail Beto O’Rourke for helping Democrats exercise their constitutional right to oppose this scheme. He raided the homes of elderly Latino voting activists and sued counties for registering voters. He filed the Texas v. Pennsylvania lawsuit trying to overturn the 2020 election, spoke at the January 6 rally, and has made 106 lawsuits against the Biden administration his identity instead of serving Texans. This is the Trump playbook in action: conspiracy theories, abuse of power, and attacks on anyone who stands in the way. I expect my state representatives to serve all Texans regardless of how we voted, not to function as Trump’s enforcers. Democracy means free and fair elections where voters choose their representatives, not gerrymandered maps where politicians choose their voters. I’m calling on you to publicly oppose any further attempts at mid-decade redistricting, demand accountability from Paxton for his voter suppression tactics, and commit to protecting every Texan’s right to vote without interference. Texas deserves better than leadership that prioritizes Trump’s ambitions over our communities, our democracy, and our constitutional rights.