New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is declaring “war” on Republicans over plans in Texas proposing a new congressional map, likely resulting in five pickups for the GOP.
Hochul ranted about President Donald Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), deeming the governor a “co-conspirator” and asserting that they both are eroding democracy and “drag[ging] us toward authoritarianism.”
“Now what Texas and Republican states are doing at the direction of Donald Trump, I say, is nothing short of a legal insurrection against our capital,” she said. “Legal meaning, they’re using the legal process — [it] does not mean it’s legal, and it must be stopped.”
Because of this, Hochul signaled that she is ready to gerrymander in her own state as a form of retaliation.
“If Republicans are willing to rewrite these rules to give themselves an advantage, then they’re leaving us no choice. We must do the same. There’s a phrase you have to fight fire with fire,” the Democrat said. “That is a true statement of how we’re feeling right now.”
“As I’ve said, another overused but applicable phrase, all is fair in love and war. That’s why I’m exploring with our leaders every option to redraw our state congressional lines as soon as possible,” she continued.
“This is a war. We are at war. That’s why the gloves are off, and I say, bring it on,” Hochul said.
“Democrats are leading New Yorkers into peril by pushing for political ‘war.’ That’s how desperately Democrats crave big government tyranny and migrants replacing us,” Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) said in response.
As the Texas Tribune reported, the new congressional district map in Texas “targets Democratic U.S. House members in the Austin, Dallas and Houston metro areas and in South Texas”:
The draft, unveiled by state Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, will likely change before the final map is approved by both chambers and signed by Gov. Greg Abbott. Democrats have said they might try to thwart the process by fleeing the state.
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Currently, Republicans hold 25 of Texas’ 38 House seats. Trump carried 27 of those districts in 2024, including those won by Democratic U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar of Laredo and Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen.
Texas Democrats did, in fact, leave the state to stop the state House from holding a vote on the newly proposed congressional map.
Gov. Abbott quickly responded to the reports of Democrats fleeing the state, writing in a statement, “Real Texans do not run from a fight. But that’s exactly what most of the Texas House Democrats just did.
“Rather than doing their job and voting on urgent legislation affecting the lives of all Texans, they have fled Texas to deprive the House of the quorum necessary to meet and conduct business,” he said. “These absences are not merely unintended and unavoidable interruptions in public service,” he continued, ultimately declaring that the “derelict Democrat House members must return to Texas and be in attendance when the House reconvenes at 3:00 PM on Monday, August 4, 2025.”
“For any member who fails to do so, I will invoke Texas Attorney General Opinion No. KP-0382 to remove the missing Democrats from membership in the Texas House,” he warned, also warning that these legislators may have also committed felonies.
“Many absentee Democrats are soliciting funds to evade the fines they will incur under House rules. Any Democrat who ‘solicits, accepts, or agrees to accept’ such funds to assist in the violation of legislative duties or for purposes of skipping a vote may have violated bribery laws,” he warned.
The full letter can be found here.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has been unable to help himself from weighing in, asserting on Monday that Abbott is “threatening to remove democratically elected officials from office because they have refused to rig an election for Donald Trump.”
“United States of America, 2025,” he said.
