Charleston, WV - The West Virginia Democratic Party is sounding the alarm on a blatant power grab unfolding in Texas, where Republican lawmakers, at the urging of President Donald Trump, have launched an unprecedented mid-decade redistricting effort to seize more congressional seats before the 2026 elections.

“This isn’t about fairness. It isn’t about representation. It’s about rigging the game,” said Teresa Toriseva, Vice Chair of the West Virginia Democratic Party. “It’s a naked power grab—plain and simple.”

President Trump has openly claimed he is entitled to five more congressional seats in Texas simply because he won the state in the 2024 election. Texas Republicans have taken his cue, fast-tracking a redistricting plan to accomplish just that—openly admitting this is about expanding GOP control of the U.S. House, not about ensuring fair or representative democracy.

Toriseva continued, “They’re not even trying to hide it. Texas Republicans are saying the quiet part out loud: they’re redrawing the lines because Trump wants them to. That’s not democracy—that’s a dictatorship.

Traditionally, redistricting occurs every ten years following the decennial census, as established by the U.S. Constitution and upheld by long-standing practice across the nation. This mid-decade redistricting effort breaks with that tradition, injecting instability into a process that historically has sought to provide certainty and regularity in democratic representation.

“If your position is that Texas can redraw lines whenever it suits the party in power, then you can’t turn around and cry foul if California, New York, or Massachusetts decide to do the same,” said Mike Pushkin, Chair of the West Virginia Democratic Party. “This is the beginning of a redistricting arms race that will tear down what’s left of the public’s trust in fair elections. This would be like the referee in a football game changing the rules at halftime, and moving the home team's end zone to the 20 yard line. If you extrapolate the actions of the Texas Republicans out to their logical conclusion, it basically says the governor of a state can conspire with legislators to redraw lines every two years if they want. Don’t like a vocal member of the House of Delegates who opposes your agenda? Just call a special session and draw them into a different district.”

Pushkin emphasized that these actions don’t just undermine tradition—they target the communities that have fueled Texas' growth. “The groups seeing their political power diluted are the same ones that made Texas one of the fastest-growing states in America—Black, Latino, and Asian communities. This is about silencing voters who are already under represented.”

The West Virginia Democratic Party joins voices across the country in calling on the courts, Congress, and the American people to stand up against this abuse of power. “Districts should be drawn based on where people live, not how they vote,” Pushkin said. “If we let this stand, it will become the new normal. And democracy as we know it will suffer for it.”