Overview
- U.S. District Judge Jeffrey V. Brown issued a roughly 160-page opinion finding substantial evidence that race was a central factor in how Texas lawmakers drew the new districts.
- The order bars Texas from using the Legislature’s 2025 map in the 2026 congressional elections, creating immediate pressure to resolve the dispute before candidate filing deadlines.
- Governor Greg Abbott called the decision a grave error and said the state has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- Reporting indicates the blocked map was intended to help the GOP secure as many as five additional U.S. House seats.
- Brown, a Trump appointee with prior ties to Abbott, previously struck down a Galveston County plan in 2023, a ruling later reversed by the Fifth Circuit, underscoring uncertain appellate terrain.