Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) slammed GOP lawmakers in the Lone Star State for attempting to acquire five more House seats through mid-decade redistricting while applauding Democrats’ retaliatory efforts in other states.
“The Republicans, they are cheaters all day, every day. But we have never tried to match their energy until now. And I applaud it,” Crockett said during a Tuesday appearance on CNN’s “The Source.”
“This is a dangerous road to travel down and I do applaud those in California that say, if you want to play with us, we will play back,” she said elsewhere in the interview, referring to California Democrats’ push for their own redistricting plan.
“You can stop this right now if you just say, hey we will stop in Texas, because California doesn’t go into play unless Texas does,” she added.
Democratic legislators who fled Texas earlier this month made their way back to the state this week in preparation for Wednesday votes on the GOP redistricting proposal.
Republicans backed by President Trump are aiming to add five House seats in Texas, as they seek to defend their narrow majority in Congress in the 2026 midterm elections.
Crockett argued Tuesday the effort is a broader reflection of Republicans’ repeated attempts to gain an edge in drawing political maps.
“If you will recall, when we look at North Carolina, as soon as they ended up with a Republican majority in that Supreme Court, what did they do? They decided to take their map from seven, which is pretty much what the state of North Carolina looks like, and instead they added an additional three seats for the Republicans,” the Texas Democrat told CNN.
“So now it‘s 10-4. Well, when you look at the voting, nothing looks like 10-4. And they only did that once the Republicans took control,” she added.
Crockett has become a firebrand for Democrats in recent months, making regular cable news appearances to criticize the Trump administration and the president’s MAGA allies in Congress.
And she’s amped up her criticism of the GOP over its redistricting efforts in her home state both in interviews and on social media in recent weeks.
“As a former Texas State Rep, let me be clear: LOCKING Rep. Nicole Collier inside the chamber is beyond outrageous,” Crockett wrote in a Monday post on X, referring to new Texas House rules requiring Democratic legislators to be shadowed by an escort to ensure a quorum for votes.
“Forcing elected officials to sign ‘permission slips’ and take police escorts to leave? That’s not procedure. That’s some old Jim Crow playbook,” she added.
