Houston Voters Check Their Registrations and Find New Districts

José Cantú, a 20-year-old medical student at the University of Houston, checked his voter information in early October and found his address was no longer in Texas's 29th Congressional District, represented by U.S. Rep. Sylvia García. He voted for García two years ago and says he has known her since he was a child.

"I sent a message to my mom and said, 'Mom, we're in District 9 now. What am I going to do?'", Cantú said, describing how he had to research candidates he did not recognize.

Jessica Campos, 44, a mother of three, also thought she was still voting in District 29 rather than District 9. "I didn't know who our candidate was until a few days ago," she said. "Even though I follow politics closely, I didn't know who represented me."

In 2025, at the request of President Donald Trump, the Texas Legislature redrew its electoral map. State Rep. Todd Hunter, a Republican from Corpus Christi who introduced the map in the House, said in August 2025: "The underlying goal of this plan is simple: to improve the political performance of Republicans." He noted that four of the five new districts have Hispanic majorities. The redraw started a redistricting process that spread to a dozen states, from California to Florida.

District 9 in Houston was created under the new map. An analysis by political scientist Mark P. Jones of Rice University and Michael O. Adams of Texas Southern University found that 97 of every 100 residents in the new District 9 lived in a different district in the 2024 election. Only 3% of the new district's residents lived in the old District 9; the rest came from the former Districts 29, 36 and 2. The new boundaries cover eastern Harris County, including the East End and the Houston ship channel corridor, along with Liberty County.

The district is 62% Hispanic on paper, but about 50% of residents are eligible to vote because of age or immigration status, and 45% are registered. In 2024, Hispanic voters made up 37% of District 9 voters, according to the Jones and Adams analysis. If the configuration had existed two years ago, Trump would have won the district by 20 points.

"Our studies show that most people do not know they are now in a new district," Jones said.

A federal court ruled 2-1 in November 2025 that the Texas map used race as a main criterion, which violates the Constitution. Texas argued the motivation was partisan rather than racial and asked the Supreme Court to block the ruling. The Supreme Court allowed the state to use its new maps.

Leticia Gutiérrez, the Democratic candidate for District 9, said she has seen confusion at campaign events, with some voters thinking she is running against U.S. Rep. Sylvia García, also a Democrat. "They are confusing them, and it is on purpose," she said.

In South Texas, District 34 lost its portion of Hidalgo County near McAllen and gained most of Nueces County, including Corpus Christi. With the previous boundaries, Trump won the district by 4.5 points in 2024 while voters reelected Democratic Rep. Vicente González. Under the new lines, the district is 77% Hispanic, and Trump would have won it by 10 points in 2024. González said: "They did this to try to push me out of Congress. What they did not count on is that I am from Corpus Christi. That is the community where I was born and grew up." He estimates he lost about 250,000 voters with the changes.

Richard González, chairman of the Democratic Party in Hidalgo County, said the county's eastern portion was moved to District 15. "Some think they are voting for Vicente González when, in fact, they are voting for Bobby Pulido," he said, referring to the District 15 Democratic candidate.

Voters will cast ballots under the new maps on Nov. 3, when control of the U.S. House is at stake. The MALDEF lawsuit over the 2025 map is ongoing and will be resolved after the election, according to Thomas Saenz, the organization's president.