‘All The Difference In the World’: CNN’s Enten Says Trump’s Texas Redistricting Is Enough to Keep the House
CNN’s Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten joined anchor John Berman on Thursday morning to discuss the new Congressional map being pushed by Texas Republicans at the request of President Donald Trump, who is trying to ensure the GOP keeps the House in 2026.
“Texas Republicans are proposing a new map for congressional districts—very rare mid-decade. Normally, reapportionment happens at the beginning of a decade. They’re doing it a second time now. Why? They want to win seats for Republicans to try to maintain control of the House of Representatives. So what does this all mean? How much would that take? CNN Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten is here. So let’s talk about these changed lines that the Republicans in Texas are pushing for. What difference would it make?” Berman began the segment.
“Yeah, it could make a huge difference. This, in fact, could win or maintain control for the Republicans in the House of Representatives. What are we talking about? Well, Texas has 38 congressional districts,” Enten replied, diving into the numbers:
Look at those that Trump won last year by at least 10 percentage points. Under the current lines, it’s 25. Under the proposed lines, it’s 30. That’s one, two, three, four, five—five potential pickup opportunities for the Republican Party. They are playing hardball at this particular point. And right now, it seems to me that Democrats are actually playing close to Little League Pee-Wee.
“So five seats—what would five seats in Texas do for Republicans in Congress overall?” Berman followed up.
“You might think five seats is just five seats, but keep in mind this: margin to spare for the House majority. In 2020, the Democrats had four seats. 2022, Republicans had four seats. This time around, two seats for Republicans out of the 2024 elections. Five seats can make all the difference in the world, and that is why Republicans in Texas providing five pickup seat opportunities could, in fact, make the difference between Republicans losing control of the House of Representatives and maintaining control of the House of Representatives,” explained Enten.
“And some voting shifts within Texas might be adding fuel to this,” Berman noted.
“Exactly right. They wouldn’t necessarily be able to do this if, in fact, Republicans—Donald Trump—did not do so much better among Latino voters last time around than he did in 2020, because four of the pickup opportunities are majority Hispanic seats. In 2024, get this: Donald Trump actually won Latino voters by 10 points in Texas. In 2020, it was Joe Biden who won it by 17 points. That’s nearly a 30-point switcheroo,” Enten explained, concluding:
So this, in my mind, is fueling these potential pickup opportunities for Republicans. As I said at the beginning of this, Republicans are playing hardball. It’s going to be interesting to see if Democrats can actually answer this, or are they going to be stuck in the Little Leagues.
“One thing we are watching is whether Donald Trump maintains his support among Latino voters, but that is to come,” Berman noted as Enten replied, “That will be to come—it will be answered soon enough.”
Watch above via CNN.
