The Texas senate will start work Thursday morning to approve a new congressional district map after the house approved the plan Wednesday following more than two weeks of delays because of a procedural stunt by Democrats.

After eight grueling hours of debate on Wednesday, the Texas house voted to approve new congressional maps that are expected to further favor Republican candidates in the 2026 midterm elections.

President Trump asked Texas Republicans to rework the maps in an effort to flip five seats from Democratic control. A number of Democratic lawmakers slowed the process by more than two weeks by fleeing the state.

While they were gone there weren’t enough lawmakers to reach a quorum in the house. The Democrats finally agreed to return this week, allowing the vote.

Wednesday started with the house speaker, Dustin Burrows, ordering the lawmakers locked in the chambers. Mr. Burrows took the extreme step of even requiring bathroom passes to make sure enough Democrats remained in place.

Republicans admitted they were redrawing the maps to favor Republicans and cited a United States Supreme Court decision that allows it. “The underlying goal of this plan is straightforward: improve Republican political performance,” the sponsor of the bill, Representative Todd Hunter, said.

As soon as the bill passed on an 88-52 vote, Mr. Burrows ordered the doors unlocked and allowed lawmakers to leave.

The morning started with Democratic lawmakers lining up to question the redistricting process. After Mr. Burrow called time on that part of the process, a string of votes was held on amendments offered by Democrats. 

After each one was shot down, the lawmakers began hours more debate on the final bill.

“Would you believe it would be a great process to include the public in a way that they could see what’s going on, or do we want to do the things in the cloak of darkness here?” a state representative, Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, a San Antonio Democrat, asked.

“Well, you’ve been gone in the cloak of darkness for 18 days,” Mr. Hunter responded.

After the Texas state senate, also controlled by Republicans, votes on the house versions of the maps on Thursday evening, the legislation will advance to the desk of Governor Greg Abbott, who is expected to quickly sign it into law.

Democrats say they will fight the new map in court.

Meanwhile, Democrat-controlled states have started their own plans to redraw voting maps to counter the Texas redistricting. California’s legislature is quickly advancing redrawn districts that would go to a November public vote in a $250 million special election.

The governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, has also threatened to conduct redistricting in retaliation.

Mr. Abbott said many blue states are already so heavily gerrymandered in favor of Democrats that little can be done to add to their majorities.