Why are Texan Democrats on the run?

为什么德克萨斯州的民主党人四处奔逃?

Americast

2025-08-08

34 分钟
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Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said on Monday: “There are no rules anymore, apparently,” as he stood alongside the Democrat lawmakers who fled Texas to prevent a vote which would redraw the state’s political map in favour of the Republican Party. It is a process known as ‘redistricting’, which normally occurs at the end of each decade when the census takes place. But in a move designed to give the Republicans a crucial advantage heading into the 2026 Midterms, Donald Trump wants it to take place now. It would give Republicans five extra seats in the House. It is an unconventional request by Donald Trump’s administration, but Democrat governors are now threatening to do the same thing in their states, including California Governor Gavin Newsom. Presenter Justin Webb and North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher, discuss whether this a fight the Democrats can win, and whether this is an audition for some 2028 presidential hopefuls. They are joined by special guest Steve Israel, former New York Congressman (2001-2017) Get in touch: * Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB * Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480 * Email Americast@bbc.co.uk * Or use #Americast This episode was made by Rufus Gray with Alix Pickles and Grace Reeve. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham. If you want to be notified every time we publish a new episode, please subscribe to us on BBC Sounds by hitting the subscribe button on the app. You can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Americast”. It works on most smart speakers. US Election Unspun: Sign up for Anthony’s BBC newsletter: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68093155 Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including Newscast and Ukrainecast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below. Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p05299nl Ukrainecast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0bqztzm Radical: BBC Sounds - Radical with Amol Rajan - Available Episodes
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  • They say everything's bigger in Texas, even the news, and it seems it is.

  • A plan by Texas Republicans to redraw the electoral map has drawn attention from right around the nation.

  • It would create five new Republican-leaning seats in the House of Representatives.

  • The Democrats say they're not going to go down without a fight.

  • Blue states, Democratic states, saying they are pledging to gerrymander their own maps in response.

  • Here is the governor of Illinois, J.B.

  • Pritzker.

  • When they're taking it upon themselves to thwart the will of the American people, well,

  • they say when Donald Trump calls, they say, yes, sir, right away, sir.

  • Happy to lick your boot, sir.

  • When Donald Trump says jump, Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton say, how high?

  • Those two individuals, very prominent Texas Republicans.

  • So with the midterms coming up,

  • this is the battle that could reshape Congress and thus President Trump's entire second term.

  • Welcome to AmeriCast.

  • AmeriCast.