Texas Court Blocks Redrawn Map as Racial Gerrymander

A three-judge federal panel in Texas ruled on Tuesday that the state's newly redrawn congressional map constitutes an unlawful racial gerrymander, blocking its use in the 2026 midterm elections and ordering the return to the 2021 map. The decision, issued in El Paso in the case LULAC v. Abbott, came in response to a lawsuit filed by civil rights organizations including the NAACP and the League of United Latin American Citizens, who argued the map discriminated against Black and Hispanic voters.

The 160-page majority opinion, written by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey V. Brown, a Donald Trump appointee, found that Texas lawmakers intentionally drew district lines based on race, violating the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act. Brown was joined by U.S. District Judge David C. Guaderrama, an appointee of President Barack Obama. The court determined that the new map, enacted during a special legislative session in August 2025, dispersed minority voters into majority-white districts while preserving others, diluting the voting power of Black and Hispanic communities.

The ruling traces the redistricting effort to pressure from the Trump administration....