Bexar County currently has three elected Democrats and two Republicans, who, for the most part, face little political opposition in seats drawn overwhelmingly in favor of one party.<\/p>\n
One exception is U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo), who has held his South Texas seat for decades, but in recent years has drawn some well-funded GOP opponents seeking to capitalize off President Donald Trump\u2019s gains in the region. <\/p>\n
Filing for reelection is approaching quickly, however, and any changes aimed at creating new opportunities<\/a> for Republicans will almost certainly be felt by here in the home of some of the state\u2019s last remaining Democrats.<\/p>\n \u201cGuess whose districts they\u2019re going to have to tweak if they want to make [Democrats\u2019 districts] more competitive?\u201d state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D-San Antonio) said at a town hall on Saturday previewing the special session.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere do you think the Republicans are going to come? They\u2019re coming from [U.S. Rep. Chip Roy\u2019s (R-Dripping Springs)] district. They\u2019re going to come from [U.S. Rep. Tony] Gonzales\u2019 (R-San Antonio) district.\u201d<\/p>\n Republicans currently control the White House, U.S. Senate and hold a 220-212 seat advantage<\/a>\u00a0in the U.S. House of Representatives, where the party out-of-power typically gains seats in the midterm.<\/p>\n Martinez Fischer is one of San Antonio\u2019s longest-serving state House members, whose decades of experience in Democratic leadership includes multiple redistricting fights. Two other San Antonio-area Democrats<\/a> will serve on the House committee overseeing this year\u2019s new maps.<\/p>\n Several states, including Texas in 2003, have redrawn their congressional districts outside of the 10-year census cycle.<\/p>\n But even some Republicans remain skeptical about what can be gained from revisiting maps their own party put into place just three years ago \u2014 a process that was already intended to optimize Republican gains.<\/p>\n \u201cThe difference between what was done before and 1752662588 is that \u2026 [in the past] the lines were drawn were drawn by a Democrat judge, not by the Republicans in the Texas House and Senate,\u201d said Austin-based GOP political consultant Craig Murphy. \u201c[In that instance], it did make sense that when they get political issues settled, the legislature had a chance to draw the lines. These lines were drawn just in 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n Adding to the intrigue, last week Trump\u2019s Department of Justice shocked political watchers with a letter asking lawmakers<\/a> to also redraw racially gerrymandered districts in Houston and Fort Worth \u2014 addressing legal issues flagged by voting rights advocates who say voters of color<\/a> were unfairly grouped together to dilute their power.<\/p>\n Drawing districts to minimize a political opponent\u2019s influence is perfectly legal, but designing them to dilute the influence of a particular racial group is not.<\/p>\n Voting advocates\u2019 case was heard by a federal court earlier this year but no ruling has been made, and few expected Republicans to take apart their own maps without a court\u2019s intervention.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery [district] has to have the same amount of constituents, so whatever they do in Houston and Fort Worth will come to San Antonio,\u201d Martinez Fischer said. <\/p>\n Filing for the March primary \u2014 the first step of a congressional race \u2014 opens on Nov. 8.<\/p>\n The legislature will begin work on the new maps in a special session starting July 21<\/a>.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a look at how San Antonio\u2019s congressional seats could change ahead of the 2026 midterm.<\/p>\n Texas\u2019 28th congressional district<\/p>\n Represented by U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo), this district<\/a> is considered squarely the crosshairs of Republicans\u2019 redistricting effort.<\/p>\n It starts in Laredo and stretches north to San Antonio\u2019s East Side, where voters have long sent Democrats to Congress. But Trump carried the district with 53% of the vote in 2024, giving Republicans reason to believe it could be competitive this year \u2014 particularly if more GOP voters are added. <\/p>\n Even without changes to the district\u2019s makeup, Cuellar and fellow South Texas U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-McAllen) are already top targets for national Republicans eager to capitalize on districts where they\u2019re making gains with Hispanic voters. <\/p>\n Several GOP candidates have already lined up to run in Texas\u2019 28th, including one who recently left the Democratic Party<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cuellar considers his decades of success in South Texas to be transcendent of party politics. He was indicted on bribery and money laundering charges <\/a>months out from the 2024 election and still reelected with 53% of the vote.<\/p>\n Texas\u2019 21st & 23rd congressional districts<\/p>\n San Antonio\u2019s two Republican-held congressional seats, represented by U.S. Reps. Chip Roy (Dripping Springs) and Tony Gonazles (R-San Antonio), could be among those losing GOP voters to make neighboring districts more competitive. <\/p>\n Roy represents Texas\u2019 21st congressional district<\/a>, stretching from the Hill Country into San Antonio\u2019s North Side, and considered deeply conservative territory. Trump carried it with 61% of the vote in 2024, and Roy, a leader in the House conservative wing, performed even better.<\/p>\n Gonzales\u2019 23rd congressional district<\/a> borders Roy to the south and west \u2014 spanning a massive swath of U.S.-Mexico border. <\/p>\n After years of fighting to hold Texas\u2019 23rd congressional district, Republicans made it safer for their party during the 2021 redistricting process.<\/p>\n Since then, the district traded GOP centrist Will Hurd for the more conservative U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-San Antonio), who last year only narrowly survived a challenge from his right<\/a> in a district Trump carried the district with 57% of the vote.<\/p>\n Gonzales and Roy have said little about the redistricting plan. <\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t get guarantees when you draw lines,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cEvery single congressional district that changes hands from one party to the other, it\u2019s because [it worked] when they drew it, and at some point it didn\u2019t work anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n Texas\u2019 20th & 35th congressional districts<\/p>\n Most of San Antonio\u2019s downtown is encompassed in two bright blue districts, represented by U.S. Reps. Greg Casar (D-Austin) and Joaquin Castro (D-San Antonio).<\/p>\n Texas\u2019 35th congressional district<\/a> stretches from Austin down to San Antonio along Interstate 35 in a barbell shape designed to surgically capture Democratic enclaves. <\/p>\n Its voters chose Casar, a progressive newcomer, after longtime Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett moved<\/a> to a newly created Austin-centric district in 2022. Since then Casar has faced little political opposition in a district that gave Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris 66% of its vote.<\/p>\n Texas\u2019 20th congressional district<\/a>, encompassing San Antonio\u2019s West Side, also hasn\u2019t drawn much interest from Republicans in recent years. Castro remains popular and ran unopposed<\/a> for a seventh term last year.<\/p>\n His seat could present a rare opening on the map, however, if he runs for U.S. Senate instead of reelection.<\/p>\n The district gave Harris 60% of its vote in 2024. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texas lawmakers will soon get to work drawing new congressional districts this summer \u2014 a move that could…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":66994,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5133],"tags":[17032,17033,5229,47397,47398,17036,47399,7202,7203,358,41359,7453,47400,3187,7593,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,7594],"class_list":{"0":"post-66993","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-2026-election","9":"tag-28th-congressional-district","10":"tag-america","11":"tag-chip-roy","12":"tag-greg-casar","13":"tag-henry-cuellar","14":"tag-joaquin-castro","15":"tag-san-antonio","16":"tag-sanantonio","17":"tag-texas","18":"tag-tony-gonzales","19":"tag-top-story","20":"tag-trey-martinez-fischer","21":"tag-tx","22":"tag-typefeature","23":"tag-united-states","24":"tag-united-states-of-america","25":"tag-unitedstates","26":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","27":"tag-us","28":"tag-usa","29":"tag-wc-1000-1500"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114862502831295744","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/trey-martinez-fischer-Town-Hall-07-12-2025-50.jpg\")
Texas State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer discusses the upcoming special session during a town hall at Alamo Colleges District headquarters on May 12. Credit: Vincent Reyna for the San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/texas-congressional-districts.png\")
<\/p>\n