by Natalia Mittelstadt
A panel of federal judges on Tuesday blocked Texas’s new congressional map that would favor the GOP in next year’s elections.
The panel ruled 2-1 that Texas Republicans must use the congressional map they had in place before they redistricted earlier this year, The Hill news outlet reported. The new map that was blocked would have given Republicans up to five U.S. House seats to pick up in 2026.
“The public perception of this case is that it’s about politics,” U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown, a Trump appointee, 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.”
Brown (pictured above) was joined in the decision by U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama, an Obama appointee.
U.S. Circuit Judge Jerry Smith, a Reagan appointee, dissented.
Other states besides Texas have also passed new congressional maps. In Missouri and North Carolina, the new maps gave Republicans an extra seat in each state. Missouri’s congressional map is also undergoing a legal challenge.
Ohio, which is legally required to redraw its congressional map, passed one that will favor Republicans by an extra two or three seats in the House.
This month, California passed Proposition 50, which will remake the state’s congressional map, projecting to give Democrats an additional five seats.
Two states, Indiana and Kansas, had discussed calling a special session to redraw its congressional maps, but the states did not have enough support to purse the matter.
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Natalia Mittelstadt is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
Photo “District Judge Jeffrey Brown” by Hollihpb. CC BY-SA 4.0.
