Pflugerville, Texas
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Manny Rizo is a Democrat in Texas, so he’s no stranger to being on the dropping facet. But this one appears to sting a bit extra.
“Intentional gerrymandering in order to control the vote,” is Rizo’s tackle the brand new Texas congressional map. “Republicans want less government, but then they want to control who is going to represent you in Congress.”
The new Texas map is the largest trophy in a red state redistricting push orchestrated by President Donald Trump. The aim is easy: Republicans have a tiny House majority and Trump hopes to defy midterm historical past by creating as many red-leaning districts as doable earlier than the 2026 vote.
Rizo’s small enterprise sits in one of many areas most dramatically impacted: Austin and its suburbs. Today, there are two deep-blue districts facet by facet. The new map makes retains the thirty seventh Congressional District blue however shrinks its footprint. The thirty fifth Congressional District is shifted south, nearer to San Antonio — in territory shaded pink in case you take a look at any current Texas election outcomes.
Two longtime Democratic districts shrink to 1, and tens of 1000’s of Democrats who now reside within the thirty fifth or thirty seventh districts are dispersed into extra rural — doubtless extra Republican — districts.
“Why should they decide who represents me?” Rizo requested. “Especially doing a change in the midterms. I don’t agree with that.”
Rizo maintains and repairs personal jets, and enterprise is sweet. His largest downside is discovering certified new hires, and he needs there have been higher state or federal coaching packages.
Trump’s tariffs are a problem. Some longtime prospects grumble a bit that their upkeep prices are up; Rizo typically has to supply components in Mexico and Canada.
“Tariffs cost more money to stay in business,” Rizo stated as he confirmed a customer a jet stripped down for inspection and repairs at his airport hangar in Pflugerville. “That cost is transferred over to the customer.”
Still, Rizo doesn’t see any main enterprise influence of switching from a Democratic to a Republican district.
But he’s indignant due to a way more private toll. Rizo’s niece, Jackie Cazares, was among the many college students killed in Uvalde. Pushing for brand new gun security measures is a ardour for him now.
He is aware of the Republicans who management Austin and Washington will not be going to cross new gun legal guidelines, however in Democratic Rep. Greg Casar he at the least has a sympathetic ear.
“I’d prefer to keep the same representative over so we can have dialogue and communicate with them and help us advance what our needs are,” Rizo stated.
“It’s really important to us and our family,” he continued. “You know: our values, our morals.”
Instead, Rizo sees a brazen, disproportionate Republican energy seize designed to offer Democrats far much less voice — and influence — than is justified by their numbers. The new Texas map is geared toward creating 5 new Republican seats simply right here. If it performs out that means within the 2026 vote, the GOP might maintain 30 of the state’s 38 congressional seats — that’s 79%. Trump gained Texas with 56% of the vote final 12 months; Gov. Greg Abbott gained 55% in his 2022 reelection.
As he watches this play out, feeling powerless to cease it, Rizo is reminded how far the Democratic Party has drifted from being aggressive statewide right here. Ann Richards was the final Democratic governor of Texas; she left workplace greater than 30 years in the past — in January 1995 — after dropping her reelection marketing campaign to George W. Bush.
“Complacency,” is Rizo’s one-word prognosis of what ails the social gathering. First dropping its edge in rural areas, then with blue-collar employees, extra lately with Latinos — together with a few of Rizo’s staff and mates who view Trump as higher for the economic system. “They thought that the Latinos were just going to always remain in the Democratic Party,” Rizo stated.
We visited Texas as a part of our All Over the Map venture, an effort to trace main occasions by way of the eyes and experiences of voters. In 2024, the main focus was on presidential battlegrounds. Now, the map is wider to maintain tabs on the influence of Trump insurance policies and Democratic rebuilding efforts as we transfer deeper into the 2026 midterm cycle.
“We have to get the younger people involved in this,” Rizo stated. “We really do. New leadership is the way I see it.”
Gretchen Pruett is one other Texas Democrat being moved in opposition to her needs to a special congressional district. She moved to Texas 30 years in the past and selected the Austin suburbs for a motive.
“I was looking for a place that would be a community that I would feel at home in,” stated Pruett, a retired library director who lives in Kyle, about 10 miles down Interstate 35 from Austin. “I have had wonderful representation over the years, most recently from Greg Casar. My family has supported him. … He very much mirrors my philosophy as well as my family’s.”
Her objection to her new district goes past simply the probability that her subsequent congressman can be Republican.
“It’s also a district that is heavily farming and industrial, and that is not the same kind of industry and ecosystem that we’re in here in the Austin suburbs,” Pruett stated.
While working for the library system in New Braunfels, Pruett received concerned in efforts to combat the push by Texas Republicans to ban sure books from colleges and libraries. Now retired, she guarantees to make thwarting the GOP’s midterm targets her new political ardour.
“It has activated me and my family,” she stated. “We will be helping to register voters. We will be helping to get out the vote. We will do voter education. We will walk door to door and let people know. When I was in public service, in government, I could not speak out. But I’m now retired and unmuzzled, so I have a voice and I am going to use it.”
Trump’s private push for the remapping provides to Pruett’s outrage, for causes that transcend redistricting.
She blames Trump for rising anti-immigrant sentiment. Her husband, Angel, is Mexican American, lengthy a naturalized citizen of the United States. They generally speak about transferring to the Midwest, the place Pruett has household.
“Because there he is not looked at with suspicion,” Pruett stated. “Here? Oh yeah. Not so much Austin. But when he goes outside of Austin, you can bet he carries his passport at all times.”
Pruett’s vitality is palpable. But she has studied the brand new map and is aware of the chances of electing a Democrat in her new district are past lengthy. Plus, and extra regarding to Pruett, are the outcomes of her early door-knocking and conversations concerning the new map.
“There was not a high level of outrage,” Pruett stated. “They say, ‘Well, what does it matter if I vote or not?’”
But she vows to combat.
“We’re silencing these voices,” Pruett stated. “We’re marginalizing them. My voice is marginalized as well.”