Overview
- An El Paso-based three-judge panel voted 2–1 to enjoin Texas’s 2025 congressional map, ordering a return to the 2021 lines after finding substantial evidence of racial gerrymandering.
- The majority cited a July DOJ letter about four coalition districts and concluded Gov. Greg Abbott explicitly directed lawmakers to redistrict based on race; Texas officials argue the motive was partisan.
- U.S. Circuit Judge Jerry E. Smith filed a 104-page dissent accusing the majority of judicial activism, procedural abuse, and violating the Purcell principle by changing rules close to the election.
- Attorney General Ken Paxton said Texas will seek relief from the U.S. Supreme Court, with the timing compressed by the state’s Dec. 8 candidate-filing cutoff and preparations already underway.
- Analysts say the ruling reshapes the national map fight, leaving California’s Proposition 50 in effect and raising the prospect of Democratic gains as the justices also weigh guidance in Louisiana v. Callais.