At sixteen months of the mid-term elections, Donald Trump tries to redraw the electoral card to consolidate republican power. He openly assumed the “Gerrymandering”, a political strategy aimed at redrawing the constituencies, to preserve the republican majority in the congress in 2026.
Since his return to the White House in January, Donald Trump has been chain announcements and decisions in an assumed style inherited from his advisor Steve Bannon: saturate the media space to disorient the counter-powers.
Last example: the closure of the scientific department of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Hundreds of physicists, biologists and chemists will be dismissed. They worked on air quality, soil toxicity or the effects of forest fires on public health.
It must be said that with a majority in Congress, Donald Trump has the frank cubits at least until the mid-term legislative elections, in less than two years. In November 2026, the entire House of Representatives and a third of the Senate will be renewed.
To maximize his chances of keeping his majority and continuing on his momentum, the American president seeks to redraw the electoral card for the benefit of the Republican Party. He also evokes without detours “Gerrymandering”, a well -known, but rarely assumed practice: manipulating the electoral districts to promote a party.
Texas is currently at the heart of this maneuver. Monday, his parliament entered the special session to revise his electoral card. Normally, it is redesigned in the wake of the population census. But there, it is officially a request from the Ministry of Justice, which deems “illegal” certain constituencies favorable to minorities.
Objective displayed for Texas
A reading of unprecedented and disputed American electoral law: it is actually a pretext. Worried for his majority, Donald Trump wants his allies to give him back more seats favorable to the Republicans.
Last week, he confirmed the maneuver in front of the journalists: he hoped to obtain five additional seats in Texas. A targeted offensive which he does not hide wanting to reproduce elsewhere.
This coup de force is an attempt to rewrite political rules to ensure that there are no more rules, no limit, no safeguard on the power of Donald Trump
Democrats denounce an attempt to lock seats to their detriment. And this, while the Texan card is already fairly frozen: no district is truly competitive. In the 2024 elections, the Republicans obtained 56% of the votes there … and won almost three -quarters of the seats in the Congress.
By creating five additional republican seats, political cartography could reach its limits, and the republican electorate could be too diluted. “This coup de force is an attempt to rewrite political rules to ensure that there are no more rules, no limit, no safeguard on the power of Donald Trump,” warned the Texan Democratic representative Lloyd Doggett.
Democrat response in preparation
In the Democratic camp, many are alarmed to see the Ministry of Justice ask certain states to transmit detailed data on voters and voting machines. An unusual and disturbing approach, especially in a context where Donald Trump regularly agitates, without proof, the specter of electoral fraud as soon as a ballot escapes him.
If Texas changed its electoral card, justice would probably be seized. The current card is already the subject of an appeal, the Democrats deeming it discriminatory towards the minorities.
Faced with the Texan maneuver, California in turn studies how to redraw its cards, to generate seats with a democratic majority. In recent years, the state had however depoliticize the division of the constituencies, confident to an independent commission. However, the Governor and the leaders of the Californian Parliament study how to regain control, even if it is to enter into the legal area on the legal level. The gesture would be risky, but symbolically strong.
If Texas goes ahead, a chain reaction could follow. This unprecedented spiral could deeply reshape the maps of “midterms”, elections traditionally unfavorable to the presidential party.
Radio subject: Jordan Davis
Text for the web: Fabien Grenon
