Texas Republicans launched an effort earlier this month to redraw the state's congressional district map in a way that would likely net the GOP five additional seats in Congress, but Texas Democrats predictably and understandably used every tactic at their disposal to delay and obstruct that effort.

The Texas redistricting was always inevitable, given the Republican majority in the state legislature, and victory was finally achieved on Saturday when the Texas Senate voted to approve the new district maps, according to the New York Post.

Those new maps have now been sent on to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott for his promised signature, but the saga likely isn't over yet, as Texas Democrats have vowed to challenge in court the legality of the redistricting changes they were unable to stop.

Texas legislature has finally approved new congressional district maps

The Republican-controlled Texas Senate moved on Friday to hold a final vote on the newly redrawn congressional district maps, but that vote wasn't held until the early hours of Saturday thanks to last-ditch delay tactics and an hours-long filibuster by the Democratic senators.

The maps had already been approved in the GOP-led Texas House in a vote on Wednesday, which followed more than two weeks of delays and obstruction from Democrats, including a quorum-breaking effort in which several lawmakers fled the state and only eventually returned to work after incurring substantial fines and under the threat of arrest and having their abandoned seats vacated.

Following the Senate's passage of the new district maps, Gov. Abbott said in a statement, "The One Big Beautiful Map has passed the Senate and is on its way to my desk, where it will be swiftly signed into law.

"I promised we would get this done, and delivered on that promise," he added. "I thank Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick for leading the passage in the Senate of a bill that ensures our maps reflect Texans' voting preferences."

Trump points to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick as "pivotal" in redistricting victory

Texas' mid-decade redistricting effort, which is unusual but not illegal, either under state or federal law, was initially encouraged by President Donald Trump as a way to help shore up the slim Republican majority in Congress that was at risk of being lost to Democrats in next year's midterm elections.

In an endorsement post on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump also heralded Texas Lt. Gov. Patrick for the role he played in getting the new maps passed, and praised Patrick as being "terrific and powerful" and instrumental in his winning the Lone Star State by wide margins in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 presidential elections.

"Dan’s leadership was pivotal in the passage of the new, fair, and much improved, Congressional Map, that will give the wonderful people of Texas the tremendous opportunity to elect 5 new MAGA Republicans in the 2026 Midterm Elections -- A HUGE VICTORY for our America First Agenda," Trump wrote.

The president added, "A True Friend to MAGA from the very beginning, Dan Patrick has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election -- HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!"

Democratic states plot revenge but are limited by their own laws

Of course, Democrats nationwide are outraged by the Texas redistricting, even though nothing prohibits it in the state, and several Democrat-led states, most notably California, have threatened or already acted to take retaliatory measures and further gerrymander their already highly partisan congressional district maps, per the Post.

Indeed, the Democrat-dominated California legislature already pushed through legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom that, if approved by voters in November, would likely eliminate five Republican-held seats and counterbalance the gains made in Texas.

However, California's move is legally questionable, given that state law mandates that redistricting be done solely by a nonpartisan independent commission, and their move has prompted other states across the country, both Democratic and Republican alike, to similarly consider a mid-decade redistricting of their own.

In fact, again with the encouragement of President Trump, such talks have already begun in Republican-led states like Florida, Indiana, Missouri, and Ohio, and as the Post acknowledged, due to various laws in the different states, the GOP likely has the upper hand to prevail over Democrats in a mass redistricting war.