If enacted, the bill would significantly reshape districts in Austin, Houston and Dallas, potentially linking some Democratic-leaning neighborhoods in Austin with rural areas nearly 300 miles (482.8 km) away in the north.

HOUSTON, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Republican-dominated Texas House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a redistricting bill, intensifying what analysts called a nationwide "gerrymandering arms race."

The Republican-led bill, passed by a vote of 88 to 52 along party lines, could give Republicans five new seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in next year's midterm elections.

The vote came after a two-week delay when more than 50 Texas Democratic lawmakers stayed out of the state in protest against the rare mid-decade redistricting plan.

On Wednesday at the Texas Capitol in Austin, Democratic lawmakers introduced 12 amendments to the redistricting bill, but Republicans rejected all of them.

The bill amounts to "an illegal and racially discriminatory map" that "surgically ... strips away minority representation in the U.S. Congress," said Democratic state lawmaker Chris Turner.

In response, Republican lawmaker Todd Hunter, who sponsored the bill, argued that Republicans were legally permitted to redraw the congressional map to maximize partisan gain.

"Redistricting can be done at any point in time," Hunter said. "The underlying goal of this plan is straightforward: improve Republican political performance."

"According to the U.S. Supreme Court, we can use political performance" in drawing congressional districts, he said. "And that is what we've done."

In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court, by a vote of five to four, ruled that claims of unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering are not subject to federal court review.

The bill now heads to the Republican-controlled state Senate, which is expected to approve it later this week and send it to Republican Governor Greg Abbott for his signature.

If enacted, the bill would significantly reshape districts in Austin, Houston and Dallas, potentially linking some Democratic-leaning neighborhoods in Austin with rural areas nearly 300 miles (482.8 km) away in the north.

"If they (Texas Republicans) enact this map and they actually pass this into law, I would expect Democratic governors to put every single option they can on the table to respond in kind," Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said earlier, vowing "a knife to a knife fight."

In California, where Democrats control the state legislature, lawmakers are scheduled to vote Thursday on a countermeasure aimed at adding up to five House seats for Democrats in 2026, local media reported.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has already called for a special statewide election in November to advance the plan.

On Tuesday, Republican lawmakers in California filed a petition with the California Supreme Court to stop Newsom's plan, citing legislative process wrongdoing.

However, the court on Wednesday rejected the petition, saying that "petitioners have failed to meet their burden of establishing a basis for relief at this time under California Constitution article IV, section 8."

The escalating redistricting moves reflect what analysts are calling a "gerrymandering arms race" between the two parties, with control of Congress at stake in next year's midterms.

U.S. states typically redraw congressional district boundaries every 10 years following the decennial U.S. census. The current congressional map in Texas was drawn in 2021, with Republicans having 25 seats out of Texas's 38.