The Republican-controlled Texas Legislature early Saturday gave final approval to a mid-decade congressional map backed by President Donald Trump, following an 88-52 vote in the House and an 18-11 vote in the Senate. Governor Greg Abbott has said he will sign the measure, which reshapes districts around Austin, Dallas, Houston and South Texas to secure as many as five additional Republican-leaning U.S. House seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Bill author Representative Todd Hunter said the "underlying goal of this plan is to improve Republican political performance." Democratic lawmakers, who had temporarily stalled the bill by leaving the state, vowed to file suit under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, arguing the map dilutes Black and Latino voting power. A three-judge federal panel in El Paso is expected to hear the case next month. California responded in kind: the state’s Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a Republican effort to halt Governor Gavin Newsom’s redistricting push, and Democratic majorities in both chambers swiftly passed legislation designed to give their party five more U.S. House seats. Newsom signed the bills the same day, scheduling a 4 November statewide referendum that would temporarily set aside the state’s independent redistricting commission. The duelling maps in the nation’s two most populous states underscore an escalating partisan arms race over redistricting. With Republicans holding only a narrow majority in the U.S. House, leaders in Indiana, Missouri and Ohio are weighing similar mid-decade revisions, setting the stage for further legal battles and political maneuvering well before votes are cast in 2026.