SAN ANTONIO – The eyes of the nation are upon Texas as state lawmakers have been tasked with redrawing the state’s congressional maps.

It’s a process called redistricting that typically happens at the beginning of each decade when new census numbers come out but is being taken up now at the request of President Donald Trump.

The president is hoping Texas’ Republican-controlled legislature can give the GOP an edge in next year’s midterm elections.

Democratic party leaders held a briefing Wednesday night saying Republicans are trying to rig the 2026 mid-term elections.

“It’s just a very simple redrawing. We will pick up five seats. Those aren’t my words, those are President Trump’s words — proudly declaring that he wants a map re-drawn to try to predetermine our next federal election,” Former U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., said. “It’s chilling. It’s unamerican, and it’s anti democracy.”

Holder said re-drawing the maps in Texas affects every part of the country — especially those in impoverished areas.

This rare mid-decade redistricting could have a big impact on your representation in Bexar County, too.

Some congressmen say they are concerned that redistricting right now could starve San Antonio of accurate representation long term.

Mid-decade redistricting is not normal. In fact, — according to UTSA political science chair Jon Taylor, it is extremely unusual.

“Mid-decade redistricting is relatively rare,” Taylor said. “It happens, and it often happens because of litigation. It’s not supposed to happen because of partisan politics, but yet, here we are.”

Taylor said there is concern that those partisan politics will lead to misrepresentation.

“The representatives are deciding who’s who they’re going to represent, and not the other way around.”

In Bexar County, there are five congressional representatives: Republicans Chip Roy and Tony Gonzales, and Democrats Greg Casar, Joaquin Castro, and Henry Cuellar.

Casar said Wednesday that re-drawing the maps could lead to San Antonians losing their voice in Washington.

“San Antonio is a city that cycle after cycle lately has been overwhelmingly democratic,” Casar said. “I think what Donald Trump is trying to force is that places like San Antonio be covered almost entirely by Republican members of Congress.”

“They’re afraid of the voters, so they’re going to change the rules a little bit so they can get an advantage going into 2026,” Cuellar said.

Meantime, mum has been the word for both Roy and Gonzales, neither of whom have commented publicly about what the President is pushing for.

Sinclair San Antonio reporter Matt Roy reached out to both for comment on this story, but neither were made available.

“If you talk to any of the Republican Congressmen, none of them are jumping up and down and saying, oh, yeah, change the lines, change the lines. I’ve talked to a lot of them. They don’t want to deal with it,” Cuellar said.

Taylor added that Republicans could open up pandora’s box when re-drawing the maps now. He says if they try and cut the margins too thin — President Trump and Republicans could lose seats instead.