Kamala Harris Weighs In On Texas Redistricting — It Doesn’t Go Well

Former Vice President Kamala Harris discussed Texas redistricting on Aug. 6 during a meeting with Young Latino Leaders, but she appeared unfocused in her remarks.

Dozens of Texas Democrats fled their state to deny the state House the quorum required for the GOP-controlled chamber to advance its map that would create five new Republican congressional seats. In a video of the meeting that Harris posted to X on Saturday, she accused Texas Republicans of “cheating.”

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“It’s cutting the Latino community in half and silencing their voice. And how is that going to affect future elections?” a participant asked Harris.

“Here’s how I think about it. I think you’re right in terms of the effect. I think what they’re doing is they’re cheating. I think they’re cheating. They want to change the current system to make it bend toward the outcome they want,” the former vice president said. “And so, you know, if you believe the public reporting, they get a call that says, ‘Hey, redo your lines,’ even though the fallout is going to include exactly what you said, which is, you know, taking the franchise, the vote, away from specific communities.”

Harris asserted that the proposed Texas map would disenfranchise Hispanic and black Texans, along with “diluting their votes.”

“And this is not a census year. But this is a year with the big, beautiful bill and the unpopularity of it. And so they want to bend the rules,” she added. “And I have to say that, you know, those Texas those Texan legislators, good for them. You know, that takes a lot of courage.”

XuserscommentedthatHarrisseemedinebriated during her remarks.

After a two-week standoff, the Texas Democrats who fled finally returned to the state’s capital Monday. They claimed they achieved their goals by derailing the first special session.

Moreover, the Texas House Democratic Caucus said that they returned home to “to launch the next phase in their fight against the racist gerrymander that provoked a weeks-long standoff with Governor Abbott and President Trump,” according to Politico.

The redistricting battle is far from over as Abbott kicked off a second special session on Friday, which again included redistricting on the agenda.

Democrats had taken refuge in blue states like Illinois — which has one of the most heavily gerrymandered congressional maps in the nation. Illinois’ map gives Democrats 82% of the congressional seats despite Trump winning 43.5% of the state’s votes during the November 2024 election.

The Texas standoff prompted a broader, national battle over congressional maps, which included Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom promising retaliation by redrawing the state’s congressional map to establish an equal number of Democratic-leaning districts in response to Texas.

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