The national redistricting battle enters its next phase Thursday as California Democrats are scheduled to pass a new congressional map that creates five winnable seats for their party, a direct counter to the Texas House's approval of a new map to create more conservative-leaning seats in that state.

The Republican-controlled House shot down all 12 Democrat-proposed amendments ahead of the vote, including a bid to block the implementation of the new map until the federal government releases

Democratic Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier has now spent over 24 hours on the Texas House floor in protest after refusing a Republican demand to be placed under the watch of the state Department of Public Safety.

The chairman of the state Democratic Party said the lawmakers “are coming back to fight these racist maps in the legislature and then in the courts.”

They already have more power than the vote totals justify,” Scudder said. “This isn’t about fairness — it’s about locking in control.”