About 250 North Texans rallied in Arlington against the state Legislature鈥檚 unusual mid-decade redistricting efforts.
Protesters, many from outside of Tarrant County, sat through 98-degree heat for the Fight the Trump Takeover rally on July 28 as Democratic lawmakers spoke out ahead of a Texas House redistricting committee鈥檚 public hearing at the University of Texas at Arlington.
The is the last of three held across Texas as state legislators consider redrawing a new congressional district map. The last time the state redistricted was in 2021, following the 2020 census.
鈥淚 understand redistricting for things like population change, but you don鈥檛 do it in the wrong way,鈥� Arlington resident and UT-Arlington grad Darryl Owens said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e trying to do the wrong thing.鈥�
The rally was organized by numerous Texas-based groups and drew crowds from across the Fort Worth-Dallas area.
One lawmaker in attendance was U.S. Rep. , whose District 33 includes parts of Fort Worth and Arlington. That district is among four cited in a U.S. Department of Justice letter stating that they were created along racial lines to include a majority of nonwhite voters.
In the July 7 to Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Harmeet Dhillon wrote the current districts 鈥渃onstitute unconstitutional racial gerrymanders.鈥� Dhillon serves as the assistant attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice鈥檚 .
Dhillon wrote that should the state fail to 鈥渞ectify the racial gerrymandering,鈥� it would open itself to legal action.
President Donald Trump later told reporters he hoped the redistricting would result in five new Republican-held seats in the House.
鈥淭he one thing that keeps Trump up at night is losing the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives,鈥� Veasey said during the rally. 鈥淗e has made this his priority, and it starts in Texas.鈥�
In a , Abbott said the redistricting was not focused on securing more Republican seats in the House.
鈥淲e鈥檙e focused on making sure that we draw maps in the state of Texas that will maximize the ability of Texas residents across the state to be able to vote for their candidate of choice,鈥� Abbott told Fox 4.
Redistricting is one of 18 agenda items for a special session called by Abbott following the 89th regular session.
The Legislature鈥檚 special session began on July 21. Lawmakers can stay in session for up to 30 days.
As for how the redistricting process will affect Tarrant County specifically, Owens said he was unsure because a draft of the new map has not been released. Either way, something about the process feels off, he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing because the maps were OK a couple of weeks ago,鈥� Owens said. 鈥淣ow the president said he wants five more seats out of Texas, and now it鈥檚 not OK. So let鈥檚 go ahead and take their math and go to the bank.鈥�
Those who wish to watch the hearing live may watch it . An archived video of the hearing will be available .
Chris Moss is a reporting fellow for the Arlington Report. Contact him at chris.moss@fortworthreport.org.
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