US EditionFederal court bars Texas from using new Republican-friendly US House map in midterms
A federal panel found Texas' 2025 map intentionally diluted Black and Hispanic voting power, blocking its use for 2026 and requiring the 2021 map instead.
- On Tuesday, a three-judge federal panel ruled Texas cannot use its new congressional map for the 2026 election and must instead use the lines passed in 2021 after a nearly two-week trial in El Paso, Texas.
- Republican lawmakers enacted the 2025 map earlier this year to bolster their narrow House majority, and the GOP-controlled Legislature approved it in August before Gov. Greg Abbott signed it, prompting lawsuits from civil-rights and advocacy groups representing Black and Hispanic voters.
- Court filings showed the 2025 map reduced majority‑minority congressional districts from 16 to 14 and eliminated five coalition districts, with five of six Democratic incumbents drawn into paired districts being Black or Hispanic during a nine‑day El Paso hearing earlier this month.
- The block came during the monthlong filing window for the March primary and before the Dec. 8 filing deadline, while judges signaled they may await U.S. Supreme Court rulings and expect a yearslong legal battle.
- Republicans hold 25 of Texas's 38 congressional seats and drew the map to gain five more, as Texas led a national redistricting push following President Donald Trump's call.
316 Articles
316 Articles
GOP Redistricting May Backfire Due to Trump’s Incompetence
GOP redistricting may backfire due to Team Trump’s incompetence. Federal judges just canceled Trump’s original Texas power grab, citing impermissible racial gerrymandering. Democrats could actually come out ahead in the 2026 redistricting battle.
Federal Court Rules Texas Cannot Use New Congressional Map for the 2026 Midterm Elections
A federal court ruled that Texas cannot use its recently passed congressional map for the 2026 midterm elections and will instead have to rely on a previous map from 2021. Texas Republican state legislators over the summer pushed for a new congressional map that could garner the GOP five additional House seats. In his ruling striking down the new congressional map, Trump-appointed Judge Jeffrey Brown wrote, “The public perception of this case is…
A court's blockade of Texas' new electoral maps is raising the stakes for the 2026 midterms
A federal court has blocked Texas from using a redrawn congressional map that would have given Republicans five additional U.S. House seats. A panel of judges ruled 2-1 that the map amounts to racial gerrymandering and harms Black and Hispanic voters.That decision is a blow to President Trump's efforts to preserve Republican control of the House and of the 2026 midterms.Texas Governor Greg Abbott says he will appeal the ruling to the Supreme Cou…
US federal court blocks Texas congressional map for racial gerrymandering
A federal court ruled Tuesday that Texas’s new congressional map, which created five additional seats for Republicans, is illegal on the basis of racial gerrymandering. The US District Court for the Western District of Texas found that the Texas legislature’s intent in redrawing the congressional map was predominantly based on race. According to the court, the new map replaced only “coalition districts,” defined as “majority non-White districts …
"Clearly erroneous": Texas appeals midterm redistricting ruling to Supreme Court
A federal court blocked Texas from using its newly drawn congressional map in 2026, concluding that state lawmakers likely relied on race rather than politics when they redrew district lines at the urging of President Donald Trump. In a 2–1 ruling on Tuesday, judges ordered Texas to revert to the congressional boundaries that were in place for the last two election cycles. This decision could be a major setback for Republicans who hoped the new …
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymander
What happenedA panel of federal judges in El Paso ruled 2-1 Tuesday that the new Texas congressional map drawn up at the behest of President Donald Trump was likely an illegal racial gerrymander. Texas Republicans engineered the map to add five GOP seats to their slim House majority, setting off a nationwide redistricting fight. The court ordered Texas to use its 2021 congressional map in next year’s midterm elections. Who said whatTexas Republi…
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