Draw the Map Once a Decade: HJR 77 Would End Mid-Decade Redistricting

Texas redrew its congressional map in 2025. Not after a census. In the middle of the decade. Now a filed amendment says that never happens again without a court order.

Plain English

On November 12, 2026, a joint resolution called HJR 77 was filed in the Texas House by Rep. Anchía. FACT.

It would amend the Texas Constitution so the Legislature can only draw its own districts, and the state's U.S. House districts, at one time: right after the federal census. FACT.

No more redraws in year three or year five because the politics changed. Only a court ruling, or a government action that blocks elections in a district, would reopen the map early. FACT.

Voters would have the final say on November 2, 2027, if two thirds of the House and two thirds of the Senate pass it first. FACT.

Why it matters

Your district decides who speaks for you in Austin and in Washington.

When the lines move, your representative can change without you moving an inch. Your county can get split. Your neighbors can end up in a different district from you.

In 2025, the Legislature passed HB 4 in its second special session. It redrew Texas congressional districts mid-decade. The Legislature's own bill history shows it took effect. FACT.

Reporting by Axios, CBS News and Texas Public Radio says the U.S. Supreme Court let Texas use that map for the 2026 elections. DOCUMENTED INFERENCE.

Reporting also shows other states, including Maryland, Virginia and New York, have moved in 2026 toward their own mid-decade redraws. DOCUMENTED INFERENCE.

So this is not a Texas only fight. It is a national arms race over maps.

The receipt

Here is what HJR 77 says, from the filed text. FACT.

• Legislative districts: the Legislature "may not enact a bill" redrawing House or Senate districts "at a time other than the time" the Constitution already requires after the census.
• Congressional districts: only in the calendar year the census is released, if it comes out on or before September 1. If it comes out later, only in a 120 day window after release.
• Court exception: if a court or agency with jurisdiction finds a district invalid, or blocks elections in it, the Legislature gets one year to redraw that body's map.
• Board exception: the Legislature cannot redraw its own districts while the Legislative Redistricting Board has exclusive control of them.
• Ballot: "The constitutional amendment to limit the time in which the legislature may enact or modify districts for the Texas Legislature or the United States House of Representatives."

This idea is not new. The same caption shows up again and again in the state's own records. FACT.

• 2005: SJR 8 (Shapleigh). Referred to committee.
• 2007: HJR 31 (Ritter, Naishtat). Left pending in committee.
• 2009: HJR 90 (Pena). Referred to committee.
• 2011: HJR 20 (Pena). Referred to committee.
• 2025, first special session: SJR 1 (Johnson and 10 other senators). Filed, no further action.
• 2025, second special session: SJR 3 (Johnson and 9 other senators). Filed, no further action.

Twenty years. Same idea. The last recorded action on every one of them was in committee or at filing.

What I say

I am not writing this to relitigate the 2025 map. That fight went to the courts, and by every report the map stands for 2026.

I am writing it because the rule should not depend on who holds the pen.

If a mid-decade redraw is wrong in Maryland, it is wrong in Texas. If it is fine in Texas, it is fine in Maryland. Pick one.

I believe maps get drawn once, after the census, when the people have been counted. Then everybody lives with them for ten years. Win the voters inside the lines you have.

East Texas lines can move like anybody else's. Families in Gregg, Harrison, Upshur, Smith and Marion counties deserve to know who their representative is going to be next cycle and the cycle after that.

I also want to see who votes to let the people decide. This is a constitutional amendment. If it passes both chambers, you get the vote, not the politicians. A lawmaker who will not even let it reach the ballot is telling you something.

I have questions too. The court exception is wide. "Any action that has the effect of prohibiting" elections in a district is a door. I want to know how wide that door is before I walk through it.

What this does not prove

• It does not prove HJR 77 will pass. Six earlier versions never left committee. FACT.
• It does not undo the 2025 map. Nothing in the text reaches back. DOCUMENTED INFERENCE.
• It does not create an independent commission or change who draws the lines. Lawmakers still draw them.
• It does not stop partisan maps. It only limits when maps can be drawn.
• It does not prove what any one lawmaker intended in 2025. Motives are NEEDS AUTHENTICATION.

What it does prove

• Someone has filed, again, a plan to lock map drawing to the census. FACT.
• The Legislature has had this choice in front of it since at least 2005 and has never passed it. FACT.
• The 2025 mid-decade redraw happened and is law. FACT.
• Texans will only get a vote on this if two thirds of both chambers say yes. FACT.

The bottom line

Draw the map once a decade. Same rule for both parties. Let the people vote on it.

This is the record. Watch which way the votes go.

Do not threaten anyone. Do not harass anyone. Do not contact anyone in my name. Read it. Share it. Send receipts, evidence, witnesses. Put eyes on the record.