About 158,000 Travis County Residents Now Vote in Rep. August Pfluger's District — and Austin Voters Cast More Ballots There Than Midland Does

Texas' new congressional map adds parts of Travis and Williamson counties near Austin to U.S. Rep. August Pfluger's 11th Congressional District, and both areas voted heavily Democratic in 2024, the Permian Press reported in an analysis read in full by this desk.

The map, redrawn by Texas lawmakers in 2025 between censuses and in effect for the 2026 elections, divides Travis County among four districts, with the 11th taking about 12 percent of its population — about 158,000 Travis County residents, compared with Midland County's 170,000. The district also loses its portion of Bell County, including part of Killeen, and Lampasas and Mills counties were moved to another district; Midland County remains entirely within the 11th under both maps, according to the Texas Legislative Council.

The voting math is the story. In the 2024 general election, the Travis County portion now in the district cast 72,602 votes, compared with Midland County's 59,193; together, the Travis and Williamson portions cast 84,892 votes, about 29 percent of the new district's total, against Midland County's 20 percent. Those Austin-area precincts voted 61.3 percent for Kamala Harris in the Travis portion and 65.5 percent in the Williamson portion. Applying the 2024 results to the new boundaries drops President Donald Trump's district share from 72.2 percent to 66.5 percent, and Sen. Ted Cruz's from 69.5 percent to 64 percent. The reality check, as the Permian Press puts it, is that the 11th remains strongly Republican — Trump would still have won it by about 34 points under the new map, and no county outside the Austin area voted Democratic in 2024. Pfluger, a San Angelo Republican who ran unopposed in the March primary, faces Democrat Claire Reynolds, an Austin attorney, on Tuesday.