COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — As Texas Republicans plow ahead with a plan to redraw congressional maps ahead of schedule, many governors are increasingly grappling with an issue that they didn’t think they’d have to confront until the end of the decade.
Texas’ unscheduled redistricting effort — which Republicans hope could help protect their narrow House majority during next year’s midterm elections — has had a ripple effect, with governors across the country floating the possibility of following suit to either add to or counter or the plan, depending on their party affiliation.
At the summer meeting of the bipartisan National Governors Association in Colorado Springs, Democrats largely condemned the efforts in Texas while cheering on efforts by members of their own party in other states.
“It’s deplorable,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, said in an interview on the sidelines of the summit, referring to Texas Republicans’ attempt.
When it came to threats by Democratic Govs. Gavin Newsom of California and Kathy Hochul of New York to forge ahead with plans to redraw congressional lines in their states, Murphy added, “I don’t think we have a choice.”
“If they’re going to play these games, we’re going to have to be just as aggressive,” Murphy said, adding that “we can’t bring a knife to a gunfight.”
Asked if he’d condone a redistricting effort in New Jersey, Murphy said “all options are on the table in New Jersey,” though he acknowledged that there were major obstacles to doing so.
“I fear there are significant constitutional constraints here in our own [state] constitution,” he said. In New Jersey, like in many other states, an independent commission oversees redistricting.
“But we are looking at all options — and we have to, as Democrats. If this is the way the other guys are going to go, we have to respond forcefully,” Murphy said. “We have no choice.”
Hawaii’s Democratic Gov. Josh Green called the actions by Texas Republicans “really sinister,” “unconscionable” and “completely unethical,” and called on his fellow Democratic governors to “fight fire with fire.”
“It’s an obvious attempt to steal elections,” Green said, though he also said that “the Democratic Party can’t stand by and watch it happen.”
“It’s very unfortunate, because two wrongs don’t make a right. But we can’t allow one party to break the rules and then consistently in the future break more rules,” he added.
“It’s turning into a knife fight,” Green said.
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott kicked off a special legislative session on Monday, with congressional redistricting one of the topics on lawmakers’ to-do list.
The New York Times reported last month that members of Trump’s political operation had privately urged Texas Republicans to redraw their maps ahead of the 2026 midterms. And Trump himself has publicly praised the efforts, urging Texas lawmakers to take actions that would help the GOP gain five House seats. Republicans currently control 25 of Texas’ 38 congressional districts.
The redistricting process typically occurs at the start of each new decade, when new census data is available. Texas’ current maps were drawn in 2021, following the 2020 census, though they are still being fought over in court.
The Republican effort in Texas has prompted some Democrats to fight back by threatening their own mid-decade redistricting schemes. Most prominently, Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential contender, has raised the idea of redrawing California’s maps. But that effort would come with major obstacles: An independent commission controls the redistricting process in California, not the governor.
On Thursday, Hochul entered the fray as well, responding to a question about redistricting in New York by saying: “All’s fair in love and war,” according to Politico. While not promising action, she added that she’d “look at it closely with” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
Elsewhere, Illinois’ Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker responded to a question about whether his state should pursue redistricting to counterbalance Texas’ push by accusing Republicans of trying to “cheat” ahead of the midterms. And a spokesman for Maryland’s Democratic Gov. Wes Moore told The New York Times this week he will “continue to evaluate all options.”
On the other side of the aisle, just days after the state Supreme Court upheld the state’s newest congressional map, Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said that “there may be more defects that need to be remedied.” He added that population shifts in the state since the census has led him to believe the state is “malapportioned” and that it “would be appropriate to do a redistricting here in the mid-decade.”
And in Ohio, state lawmakers are required to draw new congressional maps before 2026 because their current lines passed without bipartisan support. Republicans control 10 of Ohio’s 15 House seats.
Other Democratic leaders at the NGA did not urge their party’s fellow governors to move forward with their own redistricting plans.
“I would really call upon Texas Republicans to not yield to the temptation and to stick with the map that they themselves drew that benefits Republicans in the Texas delegation and continue with that until the normal redistricting period occurs at the end of the decade,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said in an interview. In Colorado, like in California, redistricting efforts are overseen by an independent commission.
Meanwhile, some Republicans at the NGA expressed displeasure with the redistricting threats from both parties.
“I’ll be perfectly honest. I only think about it once every 10 years,” Utah GOP Gov. Spencer Cox said in an interview. “Obviously, there’s concerns about gerrymandering, and both sides are doing it — you know, nobody has clean hands.”
“I don’t love it. I wish there was a better way. I wish there was a nonpartisan way. Lots of states have tried,” Cox added.
Former Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, a Republican, said he’d refuse to condemn Texas’ efforts, even though he himself helped Colorado advance its own independent redistricting commission.
“So long as so many Democratic states still redistrict the old-fashioned way, so will Republican states. So I have no criticism for Texas, given that they’re working within the same rules that have governed so many states — Democrats and Republicans — in the past,” Owens said. He added that his own approach, if he were still governor, “would be to try to do redistricting in a bipartisan fashion.”
