Multiple Democrats lawmakers held a press conference in opposition to redistricting plans ahead of the hearing at UT Arlington on Monday evening
ARLINGTON, Texas — Hundreds of people packed into a theater at UT Arlington to tell Texas lawmakers their thoughts on plans to redraw state congressional maps, while hundreds of others listened on their phones and in an overflow room outside.
The vast majority spoke in opposition to the plans, which come after President Donald Trump called for the state to work to increase the Republican seats in its congressional delegation by as many as five seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The Republican-led legislature has not released any proposed maps, but a letter from the Department of Justice raised concerns about four districts it said were illegally racially gerrymandered — including the one won by North Texas Democrat Marc Veasey.
“This is not what Texas needs right now,” Veasey said at a press conference before the hearing. “We need to be focused on that flood, we don’t need to be focused on the most divisive thing that you can do.”
All four of the districts named in the DOJ letter were won by Black or Latino Democrats. The three others are in the Houston area, the Texas Tribune reported.
Other elected Democrats said the efforts to redistrict would be racist and represented an effort by the President to help politicians pick their voters rather than allow their voters to pick them.
“He knows he’s underwater, so this is a desperate power grab to keep Trump in power on the backs of people of color in Texas,” said Congressperson Julie Johnson (D-Dallas).
Among the lone voices from the public in support of the redistricting was Rich Stoglin, the president of the Frederick Douglass Republicans of Tarrant County. He faced boos from the crowd when he announced his support.
The public hearing was scheduled to last five hours. A similar hearing in Houston on Saturday also featured few voices in support of redrawing the maps.
A mid-decade redistricting is rare, but not unprecedented in Texas. After the 2000 census, the state legislature failed to agree on a redistricting plan so a federal court stepped in.
Tom DeLay, the then-House Majority Leader, wanted Texas to have five more Republican districts.
Some Democrats left Austin, so there weren’t enough legislators to call a vote — and on Monday they threatened to do so again.
“Any Democrat that wants to properly serve their district should be prepared to take whatever means necessary, including a quorum break if that’s what they have to do,” said State Representative Ramon Romero (D–Fort Worth). “If there’s no other way, that will be on the table.”
Romero said he would wait to see the proposed new maps before deciding whether to break quorum.
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