It's not over until it's over but this is definitely a setback for Republicans in Texas and nationally. A trio of judges ruled 2-1 that the state cannot use newly drawn congressional maps in the 2026 midterms but must return to the previous maps.
A panel of three federal judges on Tuesday blocked Texas from using a new congressional map drawn by Republicans in hopes of securing the party additional seats in the 2026 midterm elections, ruling 2-1 that the map in question appeared to constitute an illegal, race-based gerrymander.
"The public perception of this case is that it's about politics," U.S. District Judge Jeffrey V. Brown, a Trump appointee, said in the majority opinion, joined by U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama, an Obama appointee.
"To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 map," the judges said. "But it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 map."
The plaintiffs based their argument that the redrawn map was racial gerrymandering based on a letter sent by the DOJ.
The state had argued that the entire redistricting process was based on a partisan goal, which the U.S. Supreme Court has previously said courts cannot intervene to prevent. But the plaintiffs pointed to a letter sent from the U.S. Department of Justice directing Texas to redraw its maps to eradicate four majority non-white districts, arguing that was the original sin that cast a racially discriminatory pall over the whole process.
In Tuesday’s ruling, Brown said it was difficult to analyze the DOJ letter because it contained “so many factual, legal and typographical errors.” But the fact that had pointed to that letter repeatedly as the impetus for redistricting was enough, they said.
“The Governor explicitly directed the Legislature to draw a new U.S. House map to resolve DOJ’s concerns. In other words, the Governor explicitly directed the Legislature to redistrict based on race,” Brown wrote on behalf of the judges. “In press appearances, the Governor plainly and expressly disavowed any partisan objective and instead repeatedly stated that his goal was to eliminate coalition districts and create new majority-Hispanic districts.”
Can this decision be appealed? Yes, but under the circumstances it may not happen in time for 2026.
Unlike most federal lawsuits, which are heard by a single district judge and then appealed to a circuit court, voting rights lawsuits are initially heard by two district judges and one circuit judge, and their ruling can only be appealed directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Last month the Supreme Court heard a case involving section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The court may be in the process of overturning that law which essentially requires states in the south to have majority minority districts that correspond with the percentage of minorities in a given state. Since minorities tend to vote Democrats, this has resulted in these red states having more Democratic representatives than they would if they were gerrymandered to the degree of blue states in the north.
The consensus after oral arguments was that a majority of Justices were ready to get rid of section 2. However, the court isn't expected to release that decision until next summer, by which point it would be too late for states to change maps based on their decision. However, if the court were to issue the decision early, in December or January, that could have an impact on states ability to redraw maps. Whether the Supreme Court will take that unusual step is unknown.
Could Trump file some kind of emergency appeal to SCOTUS? I guess so but the court can't really issue a decision overturning the Texas maps based on the decision they haven't issued yet. So, the timing seems tricky.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has just announced he will appeal today's decision to SCOTUS.
Gov. Greg Abbott says Texas will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to be allowed to use the congressional map drawn in 2025 https://t.co/jYmq8sAv3s pic.twitter.com/dMSljP6nTY
— Eleanor Klibanoff (@eklib) November 18, 2025
Texas AG Ken Paxton also just released a statement:
Attorney General Ken Paxton will file an appeal with the Supreme Court of the United States and ask for a stay of an order of a three-judge district court that has temporarily blocked Texas’s new map for congressional districts from implementation.
“The radical left is once again trying to undermine the will of the people. The Big Beautiful Map was entirely legal and passed for partisan purposes to better represent the political affiliations of Texas,” said Attorney General Paxton. “For years, Democrats have engaged in partisan redistricting intended to eliminate Republican representation. Democratic states across the country, from California to Illinois to New York, have systematically reduced representation of Republican voters in their congressional delegations. But when Republicans respond in kind, Democrats rely on false accusations of racism to secure a partisan advantage. I will be appealing this decision to the Supreme Court of the United States, and I fully expect the Court to uphold Texas’s sovereign right to engage in partisan redistricting.”
Like I said up front, it's not over until it's over.
