Frustrated voters caught in redistricting war: 'This isn't how a well-run republic runs' [View all]

Source: USA Today

Aug. 24, 2025, 6:03 a.m. ET


AUSTIN – A congressional district that stretches from Austin to the outskirts of San Antonio, held by a progressive lawmaker, may soon vanish from the Texas capital. A Republican-held district in Southern California could soon turn dark blue. And districts in Indiana and Ohio may also likely soon be unrecognizable. Across the USA, lawmakers on both sides of the political spectrum are engaging in an escalating redistricting war, with governors of both parties vowing to outdo the other – all in an effort to gain a partisan edge in next year’s midterm elections.

Meanwhile, voters in those districts watch in disbelief as long-held voting areas are stretched, shrunk or carved up into unrecognizable forms. “Ridiculous,” said Steve Hochschild, 71, as he perused a newspaper and cradled a coffee cup at the Upper Crust Bakery in Austin, while other diners munched on Texas-sized cinnamon rolls or thumbed through smartphone screens.

A few miles away, at the Texas Capitol, legislators were on the brink of approving redrawn Congressional district maps designed to give an extra electoral edge to Republicans – including turning Austin-area District 35, held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Casar into a Republican stronghold.

“It’s another random scheme by one side to go after the other side … Now we’re just in total confusion,” said Hochschild, a self-described “conscientious non-voter.” “The outcome is to disenfranchise even more voters than are already disenfranchised.”

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/08/24/texas-california-redistricting-war-newsom-trump-new-map/85775690007/