ALBANY, New York — Gov. Kathy Hochul openly embraced the full-fledged gerrymandering of congressional districts in New York to favor Democrats on Monday, marking a significant shift in her push to combat similar pro-Republican changes in states like Texas.

Monday announced plans to "fight fire with fire" in the mid-cycle redistricting battle unleashed by Texas Republicans and President Donald Trump. Flanked by Texas Democratic lawmakers who fled their state to block a vote on a new congressional map that would flip five Democrat-held House seats to the GOP,