Texas Republicans, who control the majority of the seats in the state legislature, plan to redraw five districts in the U.S. House of Representatives that are currently represented by Democrats. The proposal would use gerrymandering to make these districts favor Republicans. Democratic state legislators have left the state to delay a vote on redistricting. Texas law requires a quorum — a minimum number of state legislators who are present — to create the new districts. While Texas Democrats are absent, the state legislature is unable to pass the redistricting plan, or any other bills. In response, Texas’ governor and attorney general have brought lawsuits seeking to remove state legislators from office if they do not return to the legislature. Texas lawmakers have sought help from the FBI to arrest absent legislators and return them to the state, prompting pushback from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, who has hosted many of the legislators.
A recent YouGov poll found that large majorities of Americans see gerrymandering as a major problem, think it is unfair, and say it should be illegal. But what do Americans think about the specific situation in Texas? In another survey, we found that few Americans approve of Texas’ redistricting proposal. Americans are divided over whether to approve or disapprove of state legislators leaving Texas to prevent a vote, but are more likely to disapprove than to approve of expelling absent members from the state legislature.
Texas' redistricting proposal has little support from Americans
About one-third (30%) of Americans strongly or somewhat approve of Texas state legislators’ plan to create five new Republican-leaning districts. About half (48%) disapprove of the proposal.
The vast majority of Democrats (85%) and about half of Independents (51%) disapprove of the plan, compared to only 6% of Democrats and 18% of Independents who approve. Republicans are far more likely to approve (66%) than to disapprove (11%) of the proposal. Republicans express less-passionate attitudes about the proposal than Democrats do: Only 38% of Republicans strongly approve of the plan, while 73% of Democrats strongly disapprove of it.
Americans are divided over Texas walkouts
While few Americans approve of Texas’ redistricting plan, there is less consensus over whether legislators in the opposition are right to delay the vote by leaving the state. Americans are slightly more likely to disapprove than to approve of legislators leaving the state (41% vs. 37%). That difference is within the margin of error for this survey.
Democrats are much more likely to approve (62%) than to disapprove (25%) of the attempt to prevent a vote. Republicans are much more likely to disapprove (64%) than to approve (16%). Like with Americans overall, Independents are about evenly split: 34% approve and 34% disapprove.
Many Americans disapprove of expelling absent state legislators
A considerable share of Americans disapprove of Texas state legislators leaving the state to delay a vote, but there is less of an appetite for removing legislators from office for walking out, a measure that Texas’ governor and attorney general have proposed. About one-third (35%) of Americans approve of expelling absent members from the Texas state legislature, while 44% disapprove.
This means that some Americans disapprove of state legislators leaving Texas, but don’t believe they should be removed from office. Only about two-thirds (65%) of Americans who disapprove of the legislators’ walkout say they would approve of expelling the legislators. One-quarter (25%) of Americans who disapprove of the walkout would nonetheless disapprove of expelling absent legislators.
Partisan differences on attitudes about expulsion are similar to partisan differences on other aspects of the proposed Texas redistricting. Democrats are much more likely to disapprove than to approve of removing absent legislators from office (75% vs. 11%). Independents are twice as likely to disapprove than to approve (48% vs. 24%). Republicans are far less likely to disapprove of expelling legislators than to approve of it (11% vs. 71%).
In another recent survey, we asked if Americans approve of the FBI helping to track down legislators who left Texas. Opinions on the FBI’s involvement closely parallel feelings about expelling the absent legislators: 42% of Americans disapprove of using the FBI to track down state legislators while 37% approve. Democrats and Independents are more likely to disapprove of the FBI’s involvement than to approve of it, while Republicans are more likely to approve than to disapprove.
— Taylor Orth and Carl Bialik contributed to this article
See the results for this YouGov survey
Related articles and surveys:
- Large majorities of Americans say gerrymandering is a major problem, unfair, and should be illegal
- Donald Trump approval, Ghislaine Maxwell, gerrymandering, inflation, and unemployment
- Do you think legislative districts are drawn fairly or unfairly in your state?
- Do you support or oppose requiring public input on proposed congressional and legislative voting districts?
- Do you support or oppose requiring that redistricting is conducted by a nonpartisan redistricting commission?
Methodology: This YouGov poll was conducted online on August 8 - 11, 2025 among 1,122 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.
Image: Getty (Brandon Bell / Staff)
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