The two largest U.S. states have launched a congressional mid-decade redistricting war, and several other states are joining the fray ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, which Democrats hope will mark the end of Republicans’ control of the federal government.

It all amounts to the opening salvo in what is likely to become a national showdown to grasp power through gerrymandering.

Texas Republicans and California Democrats are both banking on Latinos to make their gambits successful. That’s understandable but dangerous. If ever a voting bloc fulfills the cliché that to assume something makes an ass out of you and me,