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4h ago

NAACP, Lawyers’ Committee Sue to Block Texas’s New Congressional Map Over Racial Gerrymandering Claims

The filing seeks a preliminary injunction in the long-running 2021 case after lawmakers approved a mid-cycle redraw projected to add five Republican U.S. House seats.

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Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, said in a statement. “It’s quite obvious that Texas’s effort to redistrict mid-decade, before next year’s midterm elections, is racially motivated." (SUSAN WALSH/AP FILE)

Overview

  • Filed in U.S. District Court in El Paso, the lawsuit names Gov. Greg Abbott and Secretary of State Jane Nelson as defendants and asks the court to bar use of the new map.
  • The plaintiffs argue the plan violates the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution by diluting Black and Brown voting power and dismantling majority-minority and coalition districts.
  • Texas Republicans approved the map in both chambers, and Abbott is expected to sign; analysts say the lines could net the GOP about five additional congressional seats.
  • Advocates point to merged Democratic seats in Houston, Austin, and Dallas–Fort Worth and newly competitive Rio Grande Valley districts as mechanisms for the projected gains.
  • The filing supplements 2021 litigation and follows a recent Justice Department letter pressing Texas to redraw certain districts, while Democrats pursue countermeasures such as California’s proposed map and the NAACP urges blue states to act.