White House Pushes Texas to Redistrict, Hoping to Blunt Democratic Gains

President Trump’s political team is encouraging Republican leaders in Texas to examine how House district lines in the state could be redrawn ahead of next year’s midterm elections to try to save the party’s endangered majority, according to people in Texas and Washington who are familiar with the effort.

The push from Washington has unnerved some Texas Republicans, who worry that reworking the boundaries of Texas House seats to turn Democratic districts red by adding reliably Republican voters from neighboring Republican districts could backfire in an election that is already expected to favor Democrats.

Rather than flip the Democratic districts, new lines could endanger incumbent Republicans.

But a person close to the president, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to talk publicly, nevertheless urged a “ruthless” approach and said Mr. Trump would welcome any chance to pick up seats in the midterms. The president would pay close attention to those in his party who help or hurt that effort, the person warned.

Congressional Republicans from Texas were called to an “emergency” meeting on Monday night in the U.S. Capitol organized by Representative Michael McCaul, a senior member of the state delegation, according to an email sent by his office and viewed by The New York Times. Three people with direct knowledge of the gathering said it would be about redistricting. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

A spokeswoman for Mr. McCaul did not respond to a request for comment, nor did several other Republican members who were invited to the meeting.

Redistricting of states is supposed to come at the beginning of each decade, when new census data requires the reapportionment of House seats to match population shifts within the states. Mid-decade redistricting is rare and almost always contentious.