Overview
- A three-judge federal panel in El Paso ruled 2–1 that there is substantial evidence Texas racially gerrymandered its 2025 congressional map.
- The court issued a preliminary injunction for 2026, directing the state to use the 2021 districts while litigation proceeds.
- Judge Jeffrey V. Brown wrote the majority opinion joined by Judge David C. Guaderrama, with Judge Jerry E. Smith dissenting.
- The opinion cited a July Justice Department letter and Governor Greg Abbott’s subsequent directive as evidence that redistricting was based on race, while calling DOJ’s assertions about coalition districts legally incorrect.
- State officials, including Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, said they will appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court, as tight filing deadlines and a broader national redistricting fight—including California’s Prop 50 and GOP moves in Missouri and North Carolina—raise the stakes.