Democrats Set To Deploy Tens Of Thousands Of Advocates To Push Against Redistricting In Texas

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is set to deploy tens of thousands of advocates to fight against redistricting efforts carried out by the Donald Trump and Greg Abbott administrations.

ABC News detailed on Monday that the initiative involves 30,000 people who will make calls to "persuadable Republican Texas voters" in districts held by the GOP to discuss the initiative, already underway in a special session.

The Abbott administration says redistricting is being considered due to "constitutional concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Justice." Concretely, the DOJ said that four districts held by Democrats need to be redrawn due to "unconstitutional racial gerrymanders."

"Republicans know that the only way they hold onto the majority is by rigging the system but it won't work. Democrats will hold Republicans across the country accountable for their vote to rip away health care and food access and that starts with organizing from the ground up," said DNC Chair ken Martin. Comments of the kind have also been made by California Governor Gavin Newsom, Senator Elisa Slotkin and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Several high-profile Democrats have also warned they will carry out similar initiatives in states they control, pledging to fight fire with fire. The latest one to do so is New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who said last week that "all's fair in love and war."

"We are following the rules. We do redistricting every 10 years, but if there are other states that are violating the rules and trying to give themselves an advantage, all I say is I'll look at it closely with Hakeem Jeffries," Hochul told press.

AOC also backed redistricting in Democratic states if Republicans move forward. "If Republicans want to play by these rules, we shouldn't have one set of rules for one and one for another. We need an even board but ideally what happens is that Texas preserves their lines as they voted," she added.

Slotkin, on her end, warned that she will back going "nuclear," claiming that Republicans are "trying to pick their borders, to redraw the lines in the middle of the decade so they have more seats."

"I'm not going to fight with one arm tied behind my back.Ii don't want to do that, but if they're proposing to rig the game, we're going to get in that game and fight," she added.

Newsom, in turn, warned that "two can play that game" when reacting to the possibility. "It's all on the table when democracy is on the line," he added.

Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesperson for Abbott, said in turn that "while partisan activists focus solely on political issues, Governor Abbott is dedicated to delivering results on issues important to Texans, such as flood relief, property tax cuts, and the elimination of the STAAR [standardized] test." The state's Republican Party has praised the redistricting topic, calling it an "essential step to preserving GOP control in Congress and advancing President Trump's America First agenda."