The decision is a massive blow in the White House’s push to redistrict across the country.
A federal court has thrown out the Texas congressional remap designed to give Republicans 5 more US House seats at the expense of Democrats.
A panel of federal judges has blocked Texas’ newly redrawn congressional map — which made five districts in the state more favorable to Republicans — saying the plan appeared to be an illegal race-based gerrymander. In a 2-1 ruling, the court ordered Texas to rely instead on the boundaries legislators drew in 2021. The new map, the majority concluded, appears likely to be unconstitutional and was drawn at the urging of the Trump administration. “The map ultimately passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor — the 2025 Map — achieved all but one of the racial objectives that DOJ demanded,” U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown, a Galveston-based Trump appointee, wrote for the panel majority.
Yep, the majority opinion was written by a Trump appointee.
The deadline for candidates filing for office in Texas is December 8th – less than 20 days away.
The state’s candidate filing deadline is rapidly approaching: Dec. 8. Courts and state election officials are generally hesitant to move deadlines, but they can if necessary.
Texas Republicans will certainly file an appeal and we could see action in the US Supreme Court over this.
Of course it would be fun if the Texas gerrymandered map got thrown out but the California gerrymander remained. But the Texas one is racially discriminatory – and that is the reason the court annulled it.
ICYMI: Just yesterday we had a major post about the gerrymandering wars. Even if the GOP wins its appeal on the Texas map, this project by Trump to hold on to control of the US House through creative cartography has not gone according to plan for the GOP.