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A congressional candidate was forcibly removed from a hearing at the Texas State Capitol and arrested this week, after going over an apparent two-minute time limit to speak as he delivered a statement in opposition to Texas Republicans’ redistricting efforts.<\/p>\n
Congressional District 18 candidate Isaiah Martin, 27, attended a\u00a0hearing<\/a>\u00a0held by the Texas House Congressional Redistricting Committee on Thursday, July 24, when he offered his thoughts on the redistricting efforts in question, calling it \u201cillegal gerrymandering.”<\/p>\n According to Austin ABC affiliate\u00a0KVUE<\/a>, Gov. Greg Abbott added discussion of a proposed redrawing of congressional districts to the agenda following pressure from the Trump administration. Per\u00a0The Hill<\/a>, the redrawing of the state’s maps could give the GOP an advantage in the 2026 midterms, as KVUE reported the state’s constitution allows the maps to be redrawn at the discretion of both the governor and the Legislature \u2014 although it is rare to be done mid-decade.<\/p>\n “Many of you that are Republicans, and I’m looking at you, you understand the game. You gotta get Trump’s endorsement,” Martin said at the beginning of his remarks, before his arrest. “That’s the name of the game to be a Republican nowadays. And you know very clearly that Trump told every single one of you that he needs five seats.”<\/p>\n