WATCH: Texas Senate considers redistricting measure that will likely add five GOP seats

A battle between Texas Republicans and California Democrats to augment their political party’s advantage in the U.S. House has led politicians in various states to consider ways they, too, could leverage partisan power to rack up more victories in the 2026 congressional elections.

Watch the meeting of the Texas Senate special committee in the player above.

President Donald Trump’s call for Texas to redraw its congressional maps to better ensure Republicans retain control of the House led to a counteroffensive in California, where Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers are doing the same thing.

WATCH: California legislature approves special election on new congressional map favoring Democrats

Such redistricting typically occurs once a decade, immediately after a census. But in some states, there is no prohibition on a mid-cycle map makeover. The U.S. Supreme Court also has said there is no federal prohibition on political gerrymandering, in which districts are intentionally drawn to one party’s advantage.

The redistricting efforts could play a role in determining control of the U.S. House and, with it, the prospects for Trump’s policy goals in the latter half of his term.

Democratic state House members left Texas for two weeks to scuttle a special session on redistricting by preventing a quorum needed to do business. But after that session ended, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott quickly called another one — and Democrats returned, satisfied that they had made their point and that California was proceeding with a counter plan.

Republicans currently hold 25 of the 38 congressional seats in Texas. A revised map passed Wednesday by the state House is intended to give Republicans a shot at picking up five additional seats in next year’s elections.