Major votes are on tap this week in the Texas and California legislatures in the high-stakes battle between Republicans and Democrats over congressional redistricting ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

In Austin, Texas, the GOP-dominated state House of Representatives on Wednesday resumes meeting amid a second straight special session called by conservative Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

At the top of their to-do list as they return to work is passing a GOP-crafted redistricting map that would create up to five Republican-leaning congressional districts at the expense of currently Democrat-controlled seats. Republicans currently control 25 of the state’s 38 U.S. House seats. 

«Please pass this Map, ASAP. THANK YOU TEXAS,» President Donald Trump wrote in a social media post on Monday.

REDISTRICTING BATTLE: FLEEING TEXAS DEMOCRATS RETURN HOME

The Republican push in Texas, which comes at Trump’s urging, is part of a broader effort by the GOP across the country to pad their razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in the 2026 midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.

Trump and his political team are aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House, when Democrats stormed back to grab the House majority in the 2018 midterm elections.

Republicans in red state Texas enjoy a supermajority in the legislature and the state Senate passed the new congressional maps last week, during the first special legislative session.

TEXAS HOUSE SPEAKER VOWS RUNAWAY DEMS WILL BE ARRESTED IF THEY TRY TO SNEAK HOME OVER WEEKEND

But dozens of Texas Democratic state representatives fled the state to prevent a quorum in the Texas House, effectively preventing Abbott and Republicans from moving forward with new maps. 

Many of the Democrats who had fled the state returned on Monday, and made it to the state Capitol building as the House reconvened. They were cheered by supporters as they arrived.

Supporters for the returning Texas democrats chant as members enter the House at the Capitol in Austin, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen Spillman)

But with Republicans outnumbering Democrats 88-62 in the state House, the new maps are expected to pass when lawmakers return on Wednesday.

«Let me also be clear about where we go from here. We are done waiting, and we have quorum. Now is the time for action,» Republican Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows said on Monday.

During the walkout, Abbott and Republican state attorney general Ken Paxton sued to try and remove some of the absent Democratic lawmakers from office. Meanwhile, GOP Sen. John Cornyn worked to get the FBI’s help in tracking down the AWOL lawmakers. And Burrows issued civil arrest warrants and also pledged to fine the lawmakers $500 per day.

The fleeing Democrats, who set up camp in the blue states of Illinois, New York and Massachusetts, late last week signaled that they would return to Texas after the adjournment of the first special session, and after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and other top California Democrats unveiled their playbook to counter the push by Trump and Republicans to enact rare – but not unheard of – mid-decade congressional redistricting.

The end of the walkout by the Democrats will lead to the passage of the new maps, but Texas Democrats vow they’ll fight the new state maps in court and say the moves by California are allowing them to pass «the baton.»

CALIFORNIA UNVEILS NEW CONGRESSONAL MAPS TO WIPE OUT FIVE GOP-CONTROLLED SEATS AND COUNTER TRUMP

While the Republican push in Texas to upend the current congressional maps doesn’t face constitutional constraints, Newsom’s path in California is much more complicated.

The governor is moving to hold a special election this year, to obtain voter approval to undo the constitutional amendments that created the non-partisan redistricting commission. A two-thirds majority vote in the Democrat-dominated California legislature would be needed to hold the referendum.

Democrats in Sacramento on Monday unveiled a bill to move forward with the referendum.

California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas announces a legislative package to advance a partisan effort to redraw the state’s congressional map at a press conference on Monday, Aug. 18, 2025, in Sacramento. (AP Photo/Tran Nguyen)

«California and Californians have been uniquely targeted by the Trump Administration, and we are not going to sit idle while they command Texas and other states to rig the next election to keep power — pursuing more extreme and unpopular policies,» Newsom said Monday in a statement.

The Democrat-dominated legislature is expected to approve the referendum on Thursday. The maps the Democrats unveiled late last week would create up to five more left-leaning congressional districts at the expense of the Republican minority in heavily blue California.

«Here we are in open and plain sight before one vote is cast in the 2026 midterm election and here [Trump] is once again trying to rig the system,» Newsom charged on Thursday.

Last week’s appearance by Newsom, who is considered a likely contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, also served as a fundraising kickoff to raise massive amounts of campaign cash needed to sell the redistricting push statewide in California. 

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California speaks during a congressional redistricting event on Aug. 14, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli )

The nonpartisan redistricting commission, created over 15 years ago, remains popular with most Californians, according to public opinion polling.

That’s why Newsom and California Democratic lawmakers are promising not to scrap the commission entirely, but rather replace it temporarily by the legislature for the next three election cycles.

But Republican former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who represented a congressional district in California’s Central Valley for 17 years, argued in an appearance on Fox News’ «Sunday Morning Futures» that «when you think about how they drew these lines, there wasn’t one hearing. There is no debate. There’s no input. Even the legislature in California doesn’t have input. The DCCC is just ending it. That is why we need to stop Newsom’s power grab.»

McCarthy, who is helping to lead the GOP fundraising effort to counter Newsom and California Democrats leading up to the likely referendum this fall, said that «November 4th will be the election that people could actually have a say,» as he pointed to polls showing strong support for the current nonpartisan redistricting commission.

A handful of California Republican state lawmakers on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in the state Supreme Court to stop the proposed redistricting reform.

And the push to temporarily replace the commission is also being opposed by other high-profile Republicans. Among the most visible is former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the last Republican elected governor in Democrat-dominated California.

Hollywood movie star and former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California opposes the push to temporarily replace the Golden State’s nonpartisan redistricting commission. (Tristar Media/WireImage)

The longtime Hollywood action star says he’s mobilizing to oppose the push by Newsom to temporarily scrap the state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission.

«I’m getting ready for the gerrymandering battle,» Schwarzenegger wrote in a social media post Friday, which included a photo of the former professional bodybuilding champion lifting weights.

Schwarzenegger, who rose to worldwide fame as the star of the film «The Terminator» four decades ago, wore a T-shirt in the photo that said «terminate gerrymandering.»

Schwarzenegger spokesperson Daniel Ketchell told Politico earlier this month that «he calls gerrymandering evil, and he means that. He thinks it’s truly evil for politicians to take power from people.»

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«He’s opposed to what Texas is doing, and he’s opposed to the idea that California would race to the bottom to do the same thing,» Ketchell added.

Schwarzenegger, during his tenure as governor, had a starring role in the passage of constitutional amendments in California in 2008 and 2010 that took the power to draw state legislative and congressional districts away from politicians and placed it in the hands of an independent commission.

En 1994, la calma del barrio de Gloucester, en el suroeste de Inglaterra, se rompió con el ruido seco de las palas golpeando contra algo que no era tierra. La policía británica excavaba el jardín de la casa número 25 de Cromwell Street siguiendo la pista de una joven desaparecida.

Lo que encontraron fue mucho más que un cuerpo: bajo ese pasto verde y prolijo, y tras esas paredes pintadas de blanco, Fred y Rose West habían ocultado durante años un cementerio privado en su propia casa. Una a una fueron apareciendo las víctimas; entre ellas la hija del matrimonio, Heather West.

Leé también: Ley Diego: cuál es el proyecto que impulsa el hermano del joven enterrado al lado de la casa de Cerati

Adolescentes, jóvenes, algunas inquilinas, otras amigas de la familia. Todas atrapadas en una dinámica de abuso, tortura y muerte que se escondía detrás de la apariencia de un hogar corriente.

La historia de esta pareja fue reconstruida en detalle en Fred y Rose West: una historia de terror británica, un documental disponible en Netflix, que muestra entrevistas, archivos policiales y documentos de la investigación que reveló la magnitud de los crímenes.

Casi 30 años después y a 11.000 kilómetros de distancia, otro barrio residencial —esta vez en Buenos Aires— empezó a vivir, aunque con obvias salvedades, una historia similar. En Coghlan, una zona de casas bajas y veredas arboladas, los obreros que trabajaban en la construcción de un edificio se estremecieron: entre la tierra removida encontraron restos humanos.

Se trataba de Diego Fernández Lima, desaparecido en 1984. Su hallazgo puso fin a más de cuatro décadas de búsqueda y conmocionó a la opinión pública, generando un revuelo mediático comparable al que en su momento provocaron los crímenes de los West en Gran Bretaña.

Los paralelismos entre ambos casos, el de Coghlan y aquel de Gloucester, son inquietantes. En primer lugar, los cuerpos estuvieron enterrados en el jardín de casas aparentemente normales. En las dos viviendas se colgaba ropa al sol, se compartían mate o tazas de té, y se intercambiaban saludos con los vecinos.

Asimismo, los hechos permanecieron sin resolverse durante años —cuatro décadas en el caso de Coghlan y casi dos décadas en Gloucester— hasta que la investigación policial y las denuncias familiares obligaron a la Justicia a actuar.

Las similitudes son tan inquietantes como las diferencias. Fred y Rose West actuaron como una pareja criminal en serie, con un método repetido y un pacto de silencio que se extendió durante años.

Leé también: Ley Diego: cuál es el proyecto que impulsa el hermano del joven enterrado al lado de la casa de Cerati

En Coghlan, hasta ahora, la investigación apunta a un único homicidio confirmado, aunque las autoridades no descartan que los hallazgos iniciales abran nuevas líneas. Lo que sí comparten ambos casos es el elemento más perturbador: la prolongada convivencia de un barrio entero con un crimen enterrado a centímetros de sus veredas.

Fred y Rose West habían construido un pacto oscuro que comenzó mucho antes de mudarse a Cromwell Street. Fred, con antecedentes de robo y abuso infantil, y Rose, una adolescente cuando quedó embarazada de su marido, unieron sus vidas y convirtieron su hogar en un espacio de terror y muerte.

La investigación permitió desenterrar cuerpos en el sótano y el jardín, y demostró que la violencia había ocurrido durante casi veinte años. Desde ese momento, la vivienda de Gloucester se conoce popularmente como “La Casa de los Horrores”. Finalmente, Fred se suicidó en prisión en 1995 y Rose fue condenada a cadena perpetua.

En Coghlan, la historia de Diego Fernández Lima plantea preguntas similares: ¿cuántos años permaneció oculto su cuerpo? ¿Cómo pudo pasar inadvertido durante tanto tiempo?

Leé también: Habló el abogado de Cristian Graf, el dueño de la casa del crimen de Coghlan: “Él no tiene nada que ver”

Aun con diferencias evidentes entre los dos casos, las coincidencias son escalofriantes: el horror que se esconde bajo la cotidianeidad, la demora en la investigación y la conmoción de la sociedad -y de la prensa- al descubrir lo que había ocurrido.

Gloucester quedó marcada para siempre por ese número 25 que fue demolido para evitar convertirse en lugar de peregrinaje macabro. En Coghlan, la casa aún está en pie y es parte de un proceso judicial en marcha.

Entre un punto y otro del mapa, las décadas y la geografía parecen disolverse cuando se piensa en esos jardines que esconden secretos, en esos suelos que guardan más de lo que muestran y en el silencio —voluntario o involuntario— que permitió que la verdad permaneciera bajo tierra tanto tiempo.

President Trump told Brian Glenn of the conservative Real America’s Voice that he didn’t want to answer his question because it was «off-topic» as he stood there with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders.

Then he proceeded to answer it at great length.

The idea, it turns out, began with Vladimir Putin, who has a bit of experience at keeping himself in power, which isn’t all that hard if you’re a dictator.

My source? Donald Trump.

ZELENSKYY AGREES TO TRUMP-PUTIN MEETING WITHOUT CEASE-FIRE, BUT WILL KREMLIN DICTATOR GO ALONG?

He said Putin told him that «it’s impossible to have mail-in voting and have honest elections,» in an interview with Fox’s Sean Hannity. He said Putin told him he won the 2020 election «by so much,» as Trump has long claimed, «and you lost it because of mail-in voting. It was a rigged election.»

Music to the president’s ears.

So Trump was ready when a friendly reporter asked the question.

Trump slammed mail-in ballots as «corrupt» when asked by a reporter, a position he’s maintained since his re-election defeat in 2020. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

«Mail-in ballots are corrupt,» he declared. «Mail-in ballots, you can never have a real democracy with mail-in ballots, and we as a Republican Party are going to do everything possible that we get rid of mail-in ballots. We’re going to start with an executive order that’s being written right now by the best lawyers in the country to end mail-in ballots because they’re corrupt.»

He was just warming up.

And, you know, that we’re the only country in the world, I believe I may be wrong, but just about the only country in the world that uses [mail-in ballots] because of what’s happened, massive fraud all over the place. The other thing we want, change of the machines. For all of the money they spend, it’s approximately 10 times more expensive than paper ballots. And paper ballots are very sophisticated with the watermark paper and everything else, we would get secure elections. We get much faster results, the machines, I mean, they say we’re going to have the results in two weeks with paper ballots. You have the results that night. Most people almost have, but most people in many countries use paper ballots. It’s the most secure form.»

A little fact-checking is in order.

As Axios points out, many countries around the world have some form of mail-in voting. And millions of Americans who live overseas, such as military families, are eligible for mailing in their ballots.

Trump actually doesn’t have the power to do this. While he says the states are an «agent» of the feds, the Constitution says the mechanics of holding elections «shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof.» But Congress can change those requirements. Could the president get this through the narrow majorities in both chambers?

«It’s a fraud,» Trump said, adding: «It’s time that the Republicans get tough and stop it because the Democrats want it, it’s the only way they can get elected.»

DONALD TRUMP AS STRONGMAN, RILING UP HIS BASE AND INVESTIGATING HIS ENEMIES

Trump even invoked Jimmy Carter. In 2004, a commission set up by the former president and ex-Reagan aide James Baker III concluded that «absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud.»

In 2020, Trump went all-out in favor of mail-in ballots, arguing that they would help Republicans. Of course, he may just have been trying to make the best of the tools already in place. No party believes in unilateral disarmament.

But his enthusiasm for mail-in ballots in that election stands in stark contrast to his current stance that they are corrupt and should be banned.

Trump wound up telling Brian Glenn, who is dating Marjorie Taylor Greene, «I’m glad you asked that question.»

In 2020, Trump favored mail-in ballots under the impression they’d help Republicans – a far cry from his current stance. (Getty Images)

The president doesn’t let himself be tied down by the rules of consistency that most conventional politicians have to obey. Until last Friday, he was insisting on a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine as a precondition for any peace agreement. After the Alaska summit, he dropped the cease-fire idea that Zelensky had been demanding, given that his country is being bombarded every day, with significant civilian casualties, and adopted the Putin stance of allowing the war to continue to further freeze his military gains in the crucial Donbas region.

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But that flexibility – what critics call flip-flopping – has put the president in the position where he has a shot at hammering out a peace agreement, though major obstacles remain.

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So I expect we’ll hear a lot more about how mail-in ballots are horrible and evil in the coming months, though whether he can get his Hill allies to go along is very much an open question.