Massachusetts threatens to redistrict to punish Texas—they have no GOP-majority districts

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey made a show of threatening to redistrict the Bay State amid the turmoil surrounding Texas' mid-decade redistricting plans. She was asked by a reporter about "redistricting in retaliation" to Texas' moves, but there are no GOP-majority districts in the state, and of the nine congressmembers from the state, all of them are Democrats.

"Isn't it a sad state of affairs that that's where we're at?" She asked. "Okay? And you know, Donald Trump, Greg Abbott, Ken Paxton, have left us no choice. That's the reality."

"Nobody came looking for this, right? We had a system of free and fair elections. We have maps that are regularly drawn, voted on by legislatures, approved and signed off on by governors. This is the way the system works, until this, until this comes in," she said.

"And so, you know, they've left us no choice," she went on. "It's not where anyone wants to be. I can tell you that governors, I know, maybe, with the exception of this person in Texas, evidently, we want our constituents represented. We want the voices heard. Whether you vote for me or not, I want your votes to count. I want your vote to count.

"Unlike Greg Abbott, who doesn't want your voice to count and doesn't want your vote to count, nor does Donald Trump, nor does Ken Paxton, because they're proposing to completely rewrite a map out of nowhere to take away the votes and the voices of Texans and the message is not only does this have an impact on Congress, which impacts all of America, it also is something that you don't want to see spread.

"You don't want to see spread, but Abbott, Paxton, Trump, they leave states with no choice. I want to make sure that people have access to health care. I don't want to see further cuts to Medicaid or to housing or to veterans or to poor little kids who need to eat. Okay.

"So that is why it becomes an issue for a governor in New York and a governor in Illinois and a governor of Massachusetts, governors all around the country." When she was asked if she'd go ahead with a redistricting plan of her own, she said, "We just did that."

"We're going to follow the rules. I don't know if the Secretary of State wishes to comment, but we just went through and customary and orderly process just a few years ago."

President Donald Trump suggested to Texas that it have a mid-decade look at their congressional district maps. In response, Texas Governor Greg Abbott called a special session to look at the maps, and a new map was proposed that would create five GOP-majority districts.

Texas Democrat lawmakers fled the state, refusing to allow a vote to go ahead. They are being fined $500 per day each for their refusal to sit in San Antonio and do their jobs. Those Democrats have been spending time with Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and New York's Kathy Hochul, who have complained about Texas' map changes.

Abbott has warned that legislators could be removed from their seats if they don't return to the state. Texas has seen an increase of 1.3 million people in population since the last census, and its population has surpassed 31 million.

Each state creates its own laws for redistricting, which are usually based on the federal census. There is some question over the administration of the census, and some lawmakers have proposed that the census count how many citizens are in the nation as opposed to just a grand tally of everyone.