New congressional map could impact Inner Loop elections From the cover
This November, a special election will be held to ll a vacant seat representing TX-18 after U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner died in March. The winner of that election will serve the remainder of the term. All congressional seats are up for election in 2026. All states are constitutionally required to redistrict every 10 years after a census, although mid-decade redistricting is not unprecedented, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston. Texas lawmakers also redrew the state’s congressional boundaries in 2003.
“Each of these newly-drawn districts now trend Republican,” Hunter said Aug. 20. “While there's no guarantee of electoral success, Republicans will now have an opportunity to potentially win these... ve new districts.” If the federal court allows Texas’ redrawn congressional map to become law, the new districts will take e ect in January 2027—the beginning of the next congressional cycle—and will not impact current congressional terms. Candidates will have from Nov. 8-Dec. 8 to le to appear on the March 3 primary ballots.
The overview
Texas lawmakers began redistricting this summer, after President Donald Trump asked Texas and other GOP-led states to redraw their congressional maps to bene t Republicans outside the decennial redistricting period. Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, said the “primary changes” to Texas’ congressional map were focused on ve districts: TX-09, TX-28, TX-32, TX-34 and TX-35.
69
69
DISTRICT 29
Current
New
DISTRICT 18
DISTRICT 18
45
45
610
610
10
10
INSIDE
XX
90
90
DISTRICT 38
DISTRICT 38
69
45
69
45
DISTRICT 29
DISTRICT 9
288
288
DISTRICT 7
DISTRICT 7
610
610
90
90
DISTRICT 9
N
N
SOURCE: TEXAS LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL COMMUNITY IMPACT
District population changes In District 9, Harris County will see a 62% decrease in Black voting-age residents under the new congressional map. Current map New map
The debate
SOURCE: TEXAS LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL COMMUNITY IMPACT
Rottinghaus said political parties can maximize their success in a district through multiple ways, such as drawing lines that would favor a certain political party, changing the district’s demographic pro le or increasing district sizes to include additional territories. “Looking at the way District 9 has been pro- duced, it’s certainly going to be a lot less urban than it was, and it’s a lot less of a Black district than it was,” Rottinghaus said. “That means it’s going to be a challenge for Democrats to try to win those seats.” According to data from the Texas Legislative Council, Harris County is expected to see an increase in white voters in District 9, as parts of the district move from Harris, Fort Bend and Brazoria
District 9
District 18
28.3% of voters will be added to District 9.
19.1% of voters will leave District 18.
White
Black
Asian
Hispanic
White
Black
Asian
Hispanic
SOURCE: TEXAS LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL COMMUNITY IMPACT
counties to Harris and Liberty counties. With the new map, the number of white voters in District 9 will more than double, while Black voters will decrease by 62%.
In District 18, the county will see a decrease in white, Asian and Hispanic voters as por- tions of the overall population are moved to di erent districts.
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