An East Texas lawmaker with a role in congressional redistricting says committee members will hear concerns raised by the Department of Justice as they redraw the state’s congressional maps. State Rep.

Martin is seeking to replace the late Rep. Sylvester Turner, who died on March 5, as the Texas’ 18th Congressional District representative.

Warning of a “five-alarm fire for democracy,” Gov. Gavin Newsom Friday suggested the possibility of California redrawing its congressional districts in response to actions in Texas.

After meetings with Democrats from the Texas House, Gavin Newsom and JB Pritzker suggested their states could counter a gerrymander by Texas Republicans.

With an extraordinary call by President Donald Trump to push Texas lawmakers to redraw congressional maps in favor of Republicans, Governor JB Pritzker said he’ll lead the way to do the same in Illinois for Democrats if need be. On Friday, Pritzker hosted a delegation from Texas to strategize.

Texas Republicans have been tasked by President Donald Trump to create five new Republican congressional seats in an off-cycle redistricting effort.

The majority of House Republicans — 53 out of 87 members — occupy a middle ground between these two ideological poles, ranging from Brooks Landgraf of Odessa to Valoree Swanson of Spring.

Every two years all 150 members of the Texas House of Representatives meet in Austin to discuss, amend, and vote on hundreds of thousands of policies that will shape our state’s future.

As Texas moves forward with an off-cycle redistricting to shore up Republicans’ narrow House majority, Gov. Gavin Newsom is plotting a Democratic response in California. But the state’s independent redistricting commission is a major obstacle.