Trump and Democrats turn rivals Texas and California into proxies for national power struggle
By BILL BARROW, NADIA LATHAN and MICHAEL R. BLOOD
Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The two most populous U.S. states — California and Texas — are grappling for political advantage ahead of the 2026 elections, setting up a national proxy war as Democrats and Republicans vie for control of Congress in the latter half of Donald Trump’s second presidency.
In Texas, Democrats on Monday prevented their state’s House of Representatives from moving forward, at least for now, with a redrawn congressional map sought by Trump to shore up Republicans’ 2026 midterm prospects as his political standing falters.
In California, Democrats encouraged by Gov. Gavin Newsom are considering new political maps that could slash five Republican-held House seats in the left-leaning state while bolstering Democratic incumbents in other battleground districts. The move is intended to counter any GOP gains in Texas with the existing maps putting Democrats within just three seats of reclaiming a U.S. House majority after the midterms.
The overall redistricting fight, which threatens to spill over to other statehouses, demonstrates Trump’s aggressive view of presidential power and his hold on the Republican Party. It also tests the historical balance of powers between the federal and state governments, with Texas and California having long played leading roles in shaping that dynamic.
For years, the two states have set competing political and cultural curves, dueling over jobs, innovation, prestige and ideology against the backdrop of Republican domination in Texas and Democrats’ control on the more liberal west coast. The two states have produced presidents and vice presidents and influential House leaders. Now, the rivalry is at the center of the two major parties national scramble to frame their approaches on redistricting as fair and impartial, while skewering the other as ruthlessly partisan.
“We are entitled to five more seats” in Texas, Trump insisted Tuesday in a CNBC interview. He pointed to California’s existing maps, which are drawn by an independent commission unlike the Texas maps drawn by a partisan legislature, as his justification: “They did it to us.”
National Democratic Chairman Ken Martin answered that Trump and compliant Republicans are subverting democracy out of fear given the president’s lagging approval ratings and voter angst over the massive GOP tax and policy bill he signed last month.
“They know they’re headed toward a loss of the Congress in 2026,” Martin said in Illinois, where multiple Texas Democrats have settled temporarily to deny their Republican colleagues a quorum in Austin. “They’re afraid, and they should be.”
A standoff in Texas after Democrats leave the state
After dozens of Democrats left Texas, the Republican-dominated House was unable to establish the quorum of lawmakers required to do business. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has made threats about removing members who are absent from their seats, drawing Democrats’ retort that Abbott is using “smoke and mirrors” to assert legal authority he does not have.
The House issued civil arrest warrants for absent Democrats and Abbott ordered state troopers to help find and arrest them, but lawmakers physically outside Texas are beyond the jurisdiction of state authorities.
“If you continue to go down this road, there will be consequences,” House Speaker Rep. Dustin Burrows threatened from the chamber floor Monday.
Abbott, for his part, has derided absent Democrats as “un-Texan.” Democrat have answered by casting the governor and his ally, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, as Trump lackeys.
“When Donald Trump say jump, Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton say, ‘How high?’” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Tuesday.
Republicans currently hold 25 of Texas’ 38 U.S. House seats. The GOP replacement map is drawn to boost Republicans to 30 seats and reduce Democrats to eight. Republicans’ current advantage of nearly 2-to-1 is already a wider partisan gap than the 2024 presidential results: Trump won 56.1% of Texas ballots, while Democrat Kamala Harris received 42.5%.
The Texas House is scheduled to convene again Tuesday afternoon but is almost certain not to have a quorum.
The California pushback: A move
to undercut GOP House members
In California, a draft plan aims to boost the Democratic margin in California to 48 of 52 congressional seats, according to a source familiar with the plan who was not authorized to discuss it publicly. That’s up from the 43 seats — about 83% of the House delegation — the party now holds. Like Texas, the existing party gap outpaces the statewide presidential split in 2024: Harris got 58.5% of the vote to Trump’s 38.3%.
The California plan would need approval from lawmakers and voters, who may be skeptical to give it after handing redistricting power to an independent commission years ago. According to the tentative proposal, five GOP-held districts would see right-leaning voters reduced, replaced by Democratic-leaning voters. Additionally, several Democratic incumbents in swing districts would have their Democratic base expanded to shore up their reelection chances.
Democratic members of California’s congressional delegation were briefed on the new map on Monday.
The proposal is being circulated as Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has said he wants to advance partisan redistricting. He says he won’t move ahead if Texas pauses its efforts. Newsom said he’d call a special election for the first week of November. Voters would weigh a new congressional map drawn by the Democratic-controlled Legislature.
“California will not sit by idly and watch this democracy waste away,” Newsom said Monday.
Pritzker and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who also welcomed some Texas lawmakers who left Austin, have promised to explore ways to redraw congressional districts if required to counter GOP efforts.
Status of the vote
In Texas, legislators who left the state declined to say how long they’ll hold out.
“There’s folks saying that we walked out. I think everyone behind me would say we’re standing up, and as Texans would say, we’re standing tall,” state Rep. Ramon Romero said Tuesday in Illinois.
Beyond their critiques of the GOP plan as a power grab, Romero and other Democrats said the plans are specifically aimed at reducing the influence of Black and Latino voters. Abbott insists Latino representation in Congress would increase.
Legislative walkouts often only delay passage of a bill, like in 2021, when many Democrats left Texas for 38 days to protest proposed voting restrictions. Once they returned, Republicans passed that measure.
Lawmakers cannot pass bills in the 150-member House without two-thirds of members present. Democrats hold 62 seats in the majority-Republican chamber, and at least 51 left the state, according to a Democratic aide.
The Texas Supreme Court held in 2021 that House leaders could “physically compel the attendance” of missing members, but no Democrats were forcibly brought back to the state after warrants were served. Republicans answered by adopting $500 daily fines for lawmakers who don’t show.
Abbott, meanwhile, continues to make unsubstantiated claims that some lawmakers have committed felonies by soliciting money to pay for potential fines for leaving Texas during the session.
Romero dismissed Abbott’s threats, and he embraced the possibility of being fined.
“I’ll pay that price for America,” he said.
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Barrow reported from Atlanta. Blood reported from Los Angeles.
