Debate heats up in Houston over a contentious redistricting proposal, with public opinions clashing at hearings.

HOUSTON — Hundreds of people gathered at the University of Houston on Saturday to protest a plan to redraw Texas' congressional maps. The demonstration was followed by a packed public hearing held by the Texas House Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting.

Hundreds of Texas residents gathered at the University of Houston today to speak directly to lawmakers about a controversial redistricting proposal that could reshape the state’s political map.

Democratic congressional candidate Isaiah Martin was dragged out of a Texas hearing and arrested after refusing to yield during a fiery speech attacking GOP lawmakers and Trump.

For those not in the know, Texas is about to undergo a seismic redistricting process, where state lawmakers will get together to redraw Texas' 38 congressional districts. It's a process that is required by law to happen every decade, when the census numbers decide how many seats in Congress a state gets and how people should be crammed into them.

Speaking to two dozen state lawmakers, a packed hearing room, two overflow rooms and a robust virtual waiting room, Texans condemned the Legislature’s plan to redraw the state’s congressional map at the House redistricting committee’s first public meeting on Thursday.

Tempers have flared at the Texas Capitol during the first in a series of public hearings to address a controversial plan to redraw the Lone Star State’s congressional map, with one candidate being forcibly removed from the State House chambers and arrested last week.

The former candidate for Senate and for Texas governor says Democratic governors in other states should redraw their congressional boundaries.

I think the more seats they go for, the more vulnerable they are in the ’26 elections,” U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson said on Inside Texas Politics.