Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) isn’t mincing words when it comes to her state’s latest political fight. On Tuesday night, the freshman congresswoman tore into Texas Republicans for what she called a blatant attempt to squeeze out five more U.S. House seats through mid-decade redistricting. At the same time, she gave a nod of approval to Democrats in other states who are starting to fight back using the same tactics.
“The Republicans, they are cheaters all day, every day. But we have never tried to match their energy until now. And I applaud it,” Crockett told CNN’s The Source.
The battle lines are clear. Republicans, backed by President Trump, are pushing a new map in Texas as they look to shore up their fragile House majority ahead of the 2026 midterms. Democrats, many of whom fled the state earlier this month to block the GOP’s plan, have returned to Austin this week as the redistricting fight comes to a head. Votes are expected Wednesday.
Crockett argued that the maneuver is part of a bigger playbook that Republicans have been running in states like North Carolina. There, a Republican-controlled state supreme court recently allowed a map that shifted the congressional breakdown from seven Democrats and seven Republicans to a lopsided 10-4 split favoring the GOP. “When you look at the voting, nothing looks like 10-4,” Crockett said. “They only did that once the Republicans took control.”
For Crockett, who has quickly built a reputation as one of her party’s more outspoken voices, the Texas plan is not just about maps. It’s about what she sees as a steady erosion of democratic norms. On social media this week, she took aim at new rules in the Texas House that require Democratic lawmakers to be shadowed by escorts to ensure they don’t break quorum during votes. One Democratic legislator, Rep. Nicole Collier, was reportedly locked inside the chamber.
“As a former Texas State Rep, let me be clear: LOCKING Rep. Nicole Collier inside the chamber is beyond outrageous,” Crockett wrote on X. “Forcing elected officials to sign ‘permission slips’ and take police escorts to leave? That’s not procedure. That’s some old Jim Crow playbook.”
The congresswoman also pointed to California Democrats’ recent moves to explore their own redistricting changes as a warning to Republicans: “You can stop this right now if you just say, hey we will stop in Texas, because California doesn’t go into play unless Texas does.”
For Democrats, Crockett’s message was simple: Texas Republicans may have opened the door to a new kind of partisan arms race, and their opponents are ready to walk through it.
