Shameless Admission of Power Grabbing

They’re Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud

A Texas GOP candidate just admitted the only way to “protect conservative wins” is through extreme gerrymandering — not fair competition, not better ideas, but by silencing millions of Texans.

On August 14, 2025, the mayor of Keller and Republican candidate for Texas House, wrote an op-ed in the Fort Worth Star–Telegram defending Texas’ mid-decade redistricting. His reasoning was blunt: “To implement Trump’s agenda without the constant distractions of meritless impeachment investigations and full-tilt obstructionism, we must maintain a Republican majority in Congress.”

He went on to argue that gerrymandering is necessary to “protect Texas’ conservative wins,” pointing to other states’ redistricting practices as justification.

In doing so, he openly admitted two things:

• Republicans fear losing control of the U.S. House without more extreme gerrymandering;

• Their plan for holding onto a conservative majority in Texas relies not on winning over voters with better ideas, but on silencing millions of Texans through district manipulation.

That’s not just anti-democratic — it’s anti-American and anti–free market. Texas Republicans in state leadership have embraced this approach, and we need to acknowledge it so we can respond effectively.

Texas is already one of the most gerrymandered states in the nation. Ideally, Congress would pass national legislation, as has been proposed before, to require all states to follow fair, nonpartisan rules for drawing districts. That way, We the People choose our representatives, not politicians choosing their voters.

Gerrymandering, no matter which party does it, undermines competition and accountability. If politicians know their seats are artificially safe, they have little reason to listen to constituents. That violates the very principles of our representative democracy.

Right now, from Trump on down, Republican leadership isn’t hiding its intention to take power away from voters. This mid-decade, hyper-partisan gerrymandering in Texas should be a wake-up call to all Americans about how dangerous the practice is.

Texas is one of the worst offenders, but gerrymandering is unacceptable anywhere. We deserve fair elections that encourage real competition and hold leaders accountable. Period.

In the meantime, I applaud Texas Democrats for pushing back, and I hope people across the state and the country will join them — with an eye toward establishing a uniform, fair system for every state, for the sake and health of our Republic.