Good morning. It's Saturday, August the 23rd. The 26 midterms are more than a year away,

but Donald Trump has already set into motion a bold redistricting plan to give Republicans an advantage in next year's elections.

It's a power grab that could move the United

States closer to something called competitive autocracy. The kind of one-party rule, like those

seen in nations ruled by strong men whom Trump admires. But this plan has been met with a lot

of resistance, and it's now triggered a nationwide fight for the future of true representative

democracy.

Overnight, Texas Republicans shot down Democrats' last-minute attempts to further delay the passage

of the state's newly redrawn and highly partisan congressional map.

Texas state senator Carol Elvarado, a Democrat, posted on X, that she was putting on some

comfortable sneakers because she planned to filibuster

through the night. But Republicans pushed through a rare procedural motion that ended debate and

moved the bill toward a final vote. And shortly after midnight local time, the Texas Senate passed

the bill along party lines. Texas Governor Greg Abbott is expected to sign the bill soon, but the

Democratic Party vows to challenge the leg to sign the bill soon, but the Democratic

vows to challenge the legality of the new map, which seeks to weaken Democratic strongholds

around Texas's biggest cities in order to give Republicans a leg up in five districts that are

currently held by Democrats. But they also have a backup plan. They're taking the fight national,

and lawmakers in California have already taken the first steps to neutralize Republican power grab in Texas.

This week, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a sweeping legislative package called the Election Ringing Response Act.

California has counterpunch to Texas's mid-decade redistricting ploy.

The Election Ringing Response Act establishes a special election on November 4th.

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