Texas is set to gain three seats, and Republicans will likely try to expand their current 23R-13D edge to a 26R-13D edge - all while adding at least one new Hispanic majority seat and a new Dem seat in Austin. Here's how...
First, Rs would "pack" the districts held by Houston Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D) #TX07 and Dallas Rep. Collin Allred (D) #TX32 w/ Dems, converting Fletcher's seat into a Hispanic majority seat. That would ease the creation of two new safe suburban R seats, #TX38 and #TX39.
Next, instead of dividing Austin six ways, Rs would create a new overwhelmingly blue Travis Co. seat ( #TX37 here). The tradeoff? It would protect surrounding R districts against heavy D vote growth along the I-35 corridor for the next decade.
Finally, on the border: Rs would target Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D) by converting #TX15 (narrow Biden win) into a double-digit Trump seat. Rs would also shore up new Rep. Tony Gonzales (R) by making #TX23 a double-digit Trump seat - all while keeping both seats 60%+ Hispanic.
Under these hypothetical lines, Trump would've carried 26/39 seats by ~15%+ in '20 despite winning TX by just 5.6%. Dems' only recourse might be a VRA claim in federal court, but Rs would point to the addition of a new Hispanic majority seat to counter those claims.
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