Texas lawmakers add a new congressional district to Houston as city 'becomes most diverse in America'

On Sept. 27, a new congressional map was proposed by Texas lawmakers, whereby Austin and Houston received two new districts for the next decade. This will bring the total to 38 and will most definitely threaten Democratic incumbents.

"As Houston has become the most diverse city in America, Fort Bend has become the most diverse county in America. So it makes sense for that district to not only encompass those changes but to reflect them in the way it's drawn," Republican strategist Vlad Daviduik said.

David Wasserman, a political analyst for the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, suggested that there might be a lawsuit since this newly proposed map is in no way creating a Hispanic majority seat despite the growing Hispanic population.

"Wow. This isn't even as aggressive a map as I expected from Texas Rs. It could plausibly be 24R-14D, with the chance Rs add seats in the Rio Grande Valley and Dems gain in DFW burbs over the course of the 2020s," tweeted David Wasserman.

Even Domingo Garcia, who is the national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, was disappointed with the map, as evident in the statement he made.

"This map is clearly gerrymandered by politicians to protect incumbents and totally discriminate against Hispanic voters. LULAC has filed suit against the state of Texas every 10 years since 1970 and we've prevailed every 10 years. Unless there are new maps drawn, we expect we will wind up in federal court again," Garcia said.

Republican leaders crafted the map with protecting their incumbents in mind. The map would strengthen the GOP position overall.

The map is likely to change Texas's political landscape for the next decade once approved.

If the map is approved, then there would be 24 Republican-leaning seats, 13 Democratic-leaning seats and one highly competitive seat, according to an analysis by FiveThirtyEight.