When José Cantú checked his voter registration in early October, he found that his house had been moved out of Texas' 29th Congressional District, represented by Democratic Rep. Sylvia García. Cantú, a 20-year-old medical student at the University of Houston, had not moved. The district map around him had changed. He now lives in the new District 9 and said he did not recognize anyone on the ballot.
His friend Jessica Campos, 44, a mother of three, had the same experience. She believed she still voted in District 29. "Even though I'm very interested in politics, I didn't know who was representing me," she said.
They are not alone. In 2025, at President Donald Trump's request, the Texas Legislature redrew its congressional map to try to take five seats from Democrats who represented Latino- or Black-majority districts. The move set off a redistricting contest that spread to a dozen states. State Rep. Todd Hunter, the Corpus Christi Republican who introduced the map in the House, said its goal was "to improve Republican political performance." A federal court ruled 2-1 in November 2025 that the map was racially based, but the Supreme Court allowed Texas to use it. Governor Greg Abbott's campaign said the maps were drawn to comply with the law. MALDEF, which is suing over the maps, says the lawsuit will be resolved after the election.
Rice University political scientist Mark P. Jones said studies show most people do not know they are in a new district. In Houston's new District 9, 97 out of every 100 residents were in a different district in 2024. Although 62% of residents are Hispanic, only about half are eligible to vote and Latinos made up just 37% of the district's 2024 voters. Rural, mostly white Liberty County, which accounts for just under a fifth of the district's voters, favors Republican Alex Mealer, who leads Democrat Leticia Gutierrez by 37 points there, according to a University of Houston Hobby School poll. Gutierrez said some voters mistakenly think she is running against García.
The district also includes the East End, where an ICE agent shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in July. Local politicians and analysts say his death has motivated some low-propensity voters to turn out and send a message to the Trump administration.
In South Texas, District 34 lost its Hidalgo County portion near McAllen and gained most of Nueces County, including Corpus Christi. It is now 77% Hispanic, and Trump would have won it by 10 points in 2024. Jones called it a district with two heads, with a more Democratic Brownsville in the south and a more Republican Corpus Christi in the north. Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, who was born and raised in Corpus Christi, estimates he lost about 250,000 voters. An August Texas Southern University poll showed him 2 points ahead of Republican Eric Flores, within the margin of error.
Analysts disagree on how Latino voters will behave. Political scientist Daron Shaw of the University of Texas at Austin estimates Republican support among Latinos has dropped from nearly 50% in 2024 to about 40%, and says Republicans could win two or three of the five targeted seats in the best case. Republican consultant Mike Madrid and former Republican legislator Jason Villalba both predict a bad night for the party. Shaw also noted that mid-decade redistricting is not new, saying parties controlling legislatures almost always redraw districts in their favor.
Cantú said he wants to organize workshops to help young people learn about the changes and the candidates. Campos said Hispanic voters have "a lot of power." "The problem is," she said, "we don't know it yet."
