Good morning, it’s Thursday, August 21, 2025. In today’s edition, Texas House adopts new maps; Florida gets in on redistricting game; Alaska moves to ban trans care for minors:
Top Stories
REDISTRICTING: The Texas House adopted legislation creating new U.S. House district maps on Wednesday on a party-line vote. The new map gives Republicans a strong chance of picking up as many as five extra U.S. House seats, a goal the sponsor, Rep. Todd Hunter (R), explicitly mentioned when introducing the bill. (Pluribus News)
The Texas Senate reconvenes this evening. The companion bill has already been reported favorably out of committee, teeing up a floor vote.
MORE: The California Supreme Court rejected a Republican effort to delay a Democratic attempt to redraw the state’s congressional district lines to counter the Texas effort. Justices said an emergency petition filed by four Republican lawmakers failed to show the need for emergency relief. The legislature must pass a redistricting plan in the coming days before it goes to voters in November. (Sacramento Bee)
EVEN MORE: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is launching an effort to redraw several South Florida districts to benefit Republicans. DeSantis specifically cited a district held by U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D), a seat drawn to allow Black voters to pick a member of Congress. (Orlando Sentinel) Louisiana House Speaker Phillip DeVillier (R) has asked lawmakers to reserve Oct. 23 and Nov. 13 for a special session to redraw districts under an anticipated U.S. Supreme Court ruling. (Louisiana Illuminator)
TRANS RIGHTS: The Alaska State Medical Board will vote tomorrow on a measure to ban gender-affirming care for minors. The board sent a letter to lawmakers in March asking them to adopt limits on hormonal and surgical treatments for gender dysphoria in minors. (Anchorage Daily News)
HEALTH CARE: New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) has signed legislation expanding access to emerging health care options for treatment of rare and ultra-rare disease. The new law allows patients to petition Superior Court for an injunction to access experimental treatments. (WMUR)
EDUCATION: A federal judge has temporarily blocked a Texas law requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in public schools. Judge Fred Biery concluded the law benefits Christianity over other faiths. An appeal would send the case to the 5th Circuit, which recently blocked a similar Louisiana law. (Texas Tribune)
In Politics & Business
MINNESOTA: State Rep. Kristin Robbins (R) will run for governor in 2026, she said Wednesday. Robbins chairs the House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee. She joins former state Sen. Scott Jensen (R), former St. Cloud Councilman Jeff Johnson (R) and a handful of others in the GOP primary. (Minnesota Star Tribune)
MARYLAND: Retired bank CEO Ed Hale Sr., who previously announced he would challenge Gov. Wes Moore (D) in the Democratic primary, has switched parties and will now run as a Republican. Hale acknowledged he would have been unlikely to beat Moore in a Democratic primary. (Baltimore Sun)
WISCONSIN: Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski (D) has launched a run for lieutenant governor, the first candidate to join the race since incumbent Sara Rodriguez (D) said she would run for governor. (Associated Press)
ARIZONA: Sen. Jake Hoffman (R) and ex-Rep. Liz Harris (R), both members of the Republican National Committee, are calling on state GOP chair Gina Swoboda to resign her post. Hoffman cited Swoboda’s praise of media reports into improper spending by Empowerment Scholarship Account recipients. (State Affairs)
Alongside her party job, Swoboda also works as a consultant to Arizona Senate Republicans.
By The Numbers
35: The number of states with laws or rules limiting cell phones in schools, just two years after Florida became the first state to adopt a cell phone ban in 2023. (Associated Press)
4%: The amount of water sitting in Elephant Butte Reservoir in New Mexico, as a share of its full capacity. (Santa Fe New Mexican)
If we’re honest, we just wanted an excuse to write the words “Elephant Butte.”
Off The Wall
Former U.S. Rep. Frank Guarini Jr. (D) celebrated his 101st birthday on Wednesday. Guarini, who represented Hudson County, N.J., for 14 years, is America’s oldest living former congressman. (New Jersey Globe)
Walmart has recalled frozen raw shrimp sold in 13 states for potential radioactive contamination. The FDA asked the company to pull three lots of Great Value brand frozen shrimp after officials detected Cesium-137, a radioactive isotope, in shipping containers imported from Indonesia. (Associated Press)
Radioactive shrimp, a storyline for the next Godzilla movie.
El Dorado County, Calif., sheriff’s deputies discovered a bear behind the counter at a local ice cream parlor in the early morning hours last weekend. Fuzzy the bear scored some strawberry ice cream before lumbering away, authorities said. (Sacramento Bee)
Commenters on the Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page noted that they, too, liked strawberry ice cream, in case you needed a reminder that the world is full of good and decent people.
Quote of the Day
“[I]f he wants to call us back in, second verse same as the first, you know. The results are going to be second verse same as the first.”
— Alaska House Speaker Bryce Edgmon (I), refusing to act on Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s (R) agenda if Dunleavy calls lawmakers back for a new special session. The House and Senate gaveled in and out of session in minutes on Wednesday. (Alaska Beacon)