This blog is part of our 89th Legislative Session Recap series. Click here to learn more about how the bills passed this session will affect you & your community.
Official Bill Caption
Relating to the composition of the districts for the election of members of the United States House of Representatives from the State of Texas.
What it Does
House Bill 4, passed during the second special session, enacts a mid-decade congressional redistricting plan. HB 4 redraws Texas’ congressional districts and is projected to shift up to five additional U.S. House seats toward Republicans. HB 4 takes effect on December 4, 2025.
Why it Matters
By rolling over for Donald Trump’s unprecedented and unwanted demand for mid-decade redistricting, Republican legislators showed their top priority is clinging to national power, not advancing the well-being and interests of their constituents. If legislators will go to these extremes to ram through Trump’s political agenda, how else will they sell out Texans?
This shameless gerrymandering power grab rigs the system by diluting the voting power of communities of color, denying them the ability to elect candidates of their choosing. In fact, one analysis indicates that the new racially engineered map would weaken Latino Texans’ voting power to one-third that of white Texans, and Black Texans’ voting power to one-fifth. Texans deserve to have the diversity of our state reflected in our congressional delegation, not to have our voices silenced. We deserve fair representation and the ability to choose our legislators, not to have our legislators choose us.
What’s Next
Even before the passage of HB 4, Texas was already one of the most gerrymandered states and the subject of civil rights litigation. HB 4 rigs the system even further, and has set off a redistricting arms race across the nation. Texas Freedom Network and our allies will not be silent in the face of this Trump takeover. New lawsuits have been filed in addition to the existing litigation fighting discriminatory maps in the courts. Texas Freedom Network will continue working alongside grassroots partners, voting-rights advocates, and communities across the state to educate Texans about how redistricting affects them at all levels of government and to mobilize them to demand accountability at the ballot box.
In 2026, TFN and our youth organizing arm, Texas Rising Action, will endorse candidates committed to fair maps, real representation, and a government that protects democracy instead of dismantling it.
