"It's imperative at this moment to use every tool that we have to fight back," Isaiah Martin, a candidate running in Texas's 18th congressional district.

Democratic state lawmakers who left Texas to block controversial new congressional maps backed by President Donald Trump are planning a return to the state early next week, shifting tactics so they can fight the plan in court.

Some Texas House Democrats confirmed they were leaving after the first special session in the Lone Star state ended Friday, and as California's own redistricting maps were expected Monday, meeting both the conditions laid out for their return.

Lawmakers are now framing their ability to prevent new maps from passing during one special legislative session as a victory. But Republicans are poised to call another.

After leaving the state to block the G.O.P. from redrawing the state’s congressional maps, Democratic lawmakers are keeping the pressure on from afar.

At a Fight the Trump Takeover rally in Millennium Park, Rep. Gene Wu, the Texas House minority leader, accuses the state's GOP of trying to rig the system and says his colleagues who fled the state are trying to stop Republicans from taking away everyone's voting rights.

Trump's push for states to redraw political maps and create more GOP-friendly House seats in time for the 2026 election has raised the stakes.

New York Times columnist David Brooks compared Trump's Texas redistricting efforts to 'mustard gas' on democracy, criticizing both parties' gerrymandering tactics.