Per The Hill:
A panel of federal judges in Texas on Tuesday blocked the state’s new GOP-favored House map from being used ahead of the 2026 midterms, dealing a blow to Republicans who have looked to pick up seats in the House next year.
In a 2-1 vote, the panel ordered Texas Republicans on Tuesday to use the congressional lines they had in place before they redistricted earlier this year. The new map would have offered Republicans up to five pickup opportunities in the House in 2026.
“The public perception of this case is that it’s about politics,” U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown wrote for the majority.
“To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 Map,” he continued. “But it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map.”
The ruling leaves Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and state Republicans free to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Appointed to the bench by President Trump, Brown was joined by U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama, an appointee of former President Obama.
U.S. Circuit Judge Jerry Smith, an appointee of former President Reagan, dissented. His opinion was not immediately filed on the public docket.
Texas normally redraws its political maps once a decade. But earlier this year, state lawmakers approved a measure allowing mid-decade redistricting — a move strongly supported by national Republican leaders, including President Donald Trump, who rightly saw an opportunity to strengthen GOP control ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Republican lawmakers argued that a recent federal court ruling effectively invalidated so-called “coalition districts,” where Democrats stitched together Black, Latino, and Asian voters to elect their preferred liberal candidates. With that ruling on the books, Republicans had both the legal basis and the obligation to redraw maps that no longer complied with the law.
Gov. Greg Abbott called a special session to get it done, moving forward despite predictable objections from Democrats and activist groups who were more interested in preserving their engineered districts than following the court’s decision.
The redistricting battle in Texas had national implications. Earlier this month, California voters approved Proposition 50 through a statewide ballot measure, which temporarily allows the legislature to redraw congressional districts. This action aims to add five new Democratic seats to counterbalance the effects of Texas’ redistricting efforts.
Alas, all is not lost. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), citing an Associated Press article reporting the ruling, wrote on X Texas has a great shot on having it overturned:
