Overview

• The July 21 special session will tackle 18 agenda items, including a mid-decade overhaul of Texas’s 38 congressional districts.
• Abbott pointed to a DOJ Civil Rights Division finding that four majority-minority districts in Houston and Fort Worth constitute unconstitutional racial gerrymanders.
• Republicans’ control of the governor’s office, both legislative chambers and the state Supreme Court virtually guarantees new maps will clear Austin.
• Democrats contend the redistricting drive diverts focus from urgent flood preparedness and recovery efforts in the Texas Hill Country.
• Any approved congressional plan is expected to trigger lawsuits under the Voting Rights Act, with federal courts set to review its legality.