Democrats on Capitol Hill are pressing blue-state governors to redraw their House lines in response to a similar push by Texas Republicans, warning it's the party's only chance to flip control of the lower chamber — and provide a check on President Trump — after next year's midterms.

The Democrats are quick to maintain that mid-decade redistricting — a rare move defying the traditional decennial process — is a rotten trend to emulate and a bad precedent to set. But the urgency in what Democrats see as an existential fight against Trump demands a bending of the rules, they say, to fight fire with fire.

"If the Republicans are going to redistrict in the middle of the decade, then we have no choice but to do the same," said Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.). "Because to do otherwise would be unilateral disarmament."

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is already heading in that direction, saying he’s weighing multiple options for how the state can redraw its lines to counter the Texas GOP. And there's speculation that Democratic leaders in several other blue states, including Illinois and New York, are assessing whether to follow suit.

As those discussions evolve, House Democrats say they're facing two bad options: Either they stick to their favored tradition of once-a-decade redistricting and watch Republicans, with a boost from Texas, keep control of the House in 2027, or they hold their noses and adopt the mid-decade re-mapping to neutralize the changes coming from Austin. Given the stakes, many are leaning toward the latter.

"It's a race to the bottom, and I wish we weren't in this place," said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.). "But they have sort of forced the conversation, and I think you can understand why California and some other places feel like they've got no choice but to consider something like that.”

"I mean, are we just going to sit back and........

© The Hill