Democrats took to social media to to criticize the state's new congressional map after it passed the Texas Senate early Saturday morning, setting the path for Republicans to gain up to five additional seats in the U.S. House.

Shortly before 1 a.m., the upper chamber voted 18-11 along party lines to pass the measure and send the redistricting map to the Gov. Greg Abbott. An attempt to filibuster and delay passage of the map by Sen. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, was crushed when Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, accused Alvarado of using the filibuster to raise campaign funds. He told his colleagues that Alvarado sent out an email at 3 p.m. that day “to promote her filibuster as a campaign fundraising event.” 

Alvarado later posted a video on social media expressing frustration with the GOP.

"They created an excuse to shut it down," Alvarado said. "What we have seen in this redistricting process has been maneuvers and mechanisms to shut down people's voices."

Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, D-Austin, slammed Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick for a “blatant bully move" during the Saturday night vote, and continued over social media to call the move "hypocrisy."

"Shutting down a filibuster over a fundraising email is unprecedented," Eckhardt wrote online. "This is not democracy, this is disgraceful."

Rep. Cassandra Garcia Hernandez, D-Dallas, praised Alvarado for her attempts to delay the vote and said Democrats would not be "backing down," reflecting intentions by Texas Democrats and civil right groups to challenge the map in court.

President Donald Trump praised Patrick for his effort to get the new map approved. 

"Dan’s leadership was pivotal in the passage of the new, fair, and much improved, Congressional Map, that will give the wonderful people of Texas the tremendous opportunity to elect 5 new MAGA Republicans in the 2026 Midterm Elections — A HUGE VICTORY for our America First Agenda," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Meanwhile, State Senate Democrats continued to criticize Republicans for redrawing the map mid-decade and for its effect on Black-majority districts. 

"Texas has the largest Black population in the nation, and the recent redistricting map disproportionately affects minority districts by packing and cracking them," Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston, wrote on X. "This is RIG-DISTRICTING!"

Critics say the map increases the number of Latino-majority districts by one, betting that Hispanics will continue to support President Donald Trump, while diluting the voting power of urban and left-leaning voters.

Houston Democrat U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher signaled that the fight against Texas' new congressional map is not over. 

“I will continue to fight for fair maps for Texans and all Americans in all the ways I can – in Congress, in the courts, and in the community," she said in an emailed statement Saturday.

View this article in the Houston Chronicle.