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White House eyeing five-seat GOP pickup in Texas in midterms as part of redistricting push

By CNN

Published July 15, 2025 5:06 pm

CNN

By Sarah Ferris, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump pitched a key group of Texas Republicans Tuesday on his strategy for his party to hold onto power in the midterms: Redrawing those members’ districts to allow for even more GOP seats.

In a call with the House GOP’s Texas delegation, Trump told members the White House believes they can flip as many as five US House seats as part of a Republican redistricting effort in the state, according to a source familiar with the call.

Redrawing maps in Texas this year would be a highly unusual move after the state approved the last set of maps in 2021. But Trump and his team have for weeks been boasting of the idea to the Texas delegation and GOP leaders, which they believe will help cushion their party against any losses in a midterm that’s historically unfavorable to the sitting president.

“Just spoke to our Great Congressmen and women of Texas,” the president wrote on his Truth Social platform shortly after speaking with the Texas delegation, adding later: “I keep hearing about Texas ‘going Blue,’ but it is just another Democrat LIE. With the right Candidate, Texas isn’t ‘going Blue’ anytime soon!”

The White House has been aggressively pushing the redistricting plan behind the scenes, describing it as a key part of their midterm plan. Democrats, meanwhile, are hammering Trump and Texas Republicans for what they see as a political power grab, while vowing to take legal action to block the maps from going into effect.

Texas’ attempt to redraw maps in less than 18 months will be a frenzied scramble: The Texas State Legislature is set to return next week for a special session to begin the process of redrawing the state’s congressional map, known as redistricting.

But it will face intense scrutiny from both local Republicans and Democrats. Democrats plan to fundraise specifically for their legal case against the plan, which – if successful – could mean months of court delays.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries met with his Texas Democrats on Tuesday, where they discussed ways to fight the White House and the governor’s plans to further gerrymander the state’s maps.

“Democrats are going to push back aggressively because it’s the right thing to do,” Jeffries told reporters.

Some Democrats are eager to see their own blue states use the same tactics to shore up more Democratic-friendly House seats: California Gov. Gavin Newsom, for instance, has suggested this week that he, too, could attempt to redraw congressional districts to weaken the opposing party’s power.

“Two can play this game,” the Democratic governor wrote on X in a post on the president’s message to Texas Republicans, first reported by PunchBowl News.

But such efforts would be an uphill battle, given that states like California have already relinquished much of their power to an independent commission, which guarantees GOP representation in the process.

Jeffries, for his part, did not rule out the idea but left it to Newsom and other blue-state governors.

“All options will continue to be on the table as it relates to our efforts to push back legislatively and legally in Texas,” Jeffries said when asked by CNN if Democrats would be willing to use the same gerrymandering playbook as the GOP. But, he added, “I think that I’ll let Gov. Gavin Newsom, Gov. Hochul and others continue to speak for themselves on this issue.”

While the administration has communicated its aim to pick up as many as five seats to Texas members and GOP leadership in recent weeks, some Republicans remain privately skeptical and believe a pickup of two seats would be more likely, a Republican familiar with the discussions said.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNN’s Aileen Graef contributed to this report.