The national redistricting battle enters its next phase with California Democrats scheduled Thursday to pass a new congressional map for voters to consider in November that would create five more winnable seats for their party,

Texas lawmakers on Wednesday (Aug 20) passed a new congressional district map intended to flip five Democratic-held US House seats to Republican control in next year's midterm elections, a key step in an increasingly acrimonious partisan battle as California Democrats lined up their own redistricting effort.

The vote overcame weeks of protests from House Democrats who fled the state to stall a vote on the mid-cycle redistricting.