HOUSTON, United States (AFP) — The governor of Texas said Saturday he will sign into law an electoral map aimed at carving out five new Republican-leaning state seats to help the party retain control of Congress in next year’s midterm elections.

Texas legislators overnight gave final approval to the redistricting effort, in a boost for President Donald Trump. The state senate voted along party lines to pass the map 18-11, following more than eight hours of heated debate.

Last week, the state legislature’s lower chamber adopted the bill, after Democrats delayed the votes for weeks by denying Republicans a quorum to do legislative business.

“Despite Democrats’ petty stunts, we delivered on our promise. This map reflects Texans’ actual voting preferences, and I look forward to signing it into law,” Governor Gregg Abbott said on X.

Democratic Senator Carol Alvarado’s last-ditch plans to filibuster the map were thwarted when Republicans used a rare procedural motion to halt debate, end the filibuster, and proceed directly to the final vote.

Fellow Democrat Sarah Eckhardt said shutting down a filibuster was “unprecedented.”

“This is not democracy, this is disgraceful,” she posted on X.

Trump boasted of the effort to create five more Republican-leaning seats, saying Wednesday after the bill sailed through the House that “Texas never lets us down.”

The vote caps weeks of dramatic political theatre that saw Democratic lawmakers flee the state in July to deny Republicans the quorum needed to pass the redistricting plan, and drew nationwide attention to partisan redistricting, known as gerrymandering.