Stephanie Sy:
Amna, The Texas Statehouse is stuck in a political stalemate. The Republican effort is being pushed by President Trump and Governor Abbott, who called the special session, on the agenda, flood relief, but also passing a new electoral map that could yield Republicans up to five additional congressional seats. Democrats cried foul and they’re trying to run out of time by staying out of Texas.
Joining us now is Texas State Representative Carl Tepper, who sits on the redistricting committee and helped draw that proposed map.
Representative Tepper, thank you so much for joining the program.
So I heard a local radio interview you did last month where you outright said that the crux of this special session was about redistricting. In fact, you said — quote — “The Trump administration wants to see if we can squeeze out two, maybe five congressional districts, Republican districts, in Texas.”
That seems like a pretty honest explanation of the goal here. Am I right?
