The Texas Legislature gave final approval to a mid-decade congressional redistricting plan early Saturday, with the Republican-controlled Senate voting 18–11 after more than eight hours of debate. The bill, which already cleared the House 88–52 on Wednesday, redraws the state’s 38 districts in a way that analysts say could deliver as many as five additional Republican seats in the 2026 U.S. House elections. It now heads to Governor Greg Abbott, who vowed to sign it quickly, calling the measure a “One Big Beautiful Map.” The map was drafted at the request of President Donald Trump and became the focus of a weeks-long standoff in Austin. More than 50 Democratic House members left the state in an unsuccessful attempt to deny a quorum, delaying—but not preventing—the vote. During the Senate debate, Democrat Carol Alvarado threatened a filibuster, but a procedural motion by the GOP majority forced an early vote. Republican sponsor Phil King maintained the lines were drawn legally and without racial data, while warning that failure to pass the bill risked the party’s slim majority in Congress. Democrats and civil-rights groups say the plan diminishes the influence of Black and Latino voters and have signaled immediate court challenges. The Texas action has intensified a national redistricting battle: California’s Democratic legislature has advanced a separate proposal, subject to voter approval, that aims to add five Democratic seats. With partisan control of the U.S. House separated by only a handful of districts, the competing mid-cycle redraws are expected to shape the 2026 electoral landscape and test the limits of partisan gerrymandering under federal law.