A panel of three federal judges has ruled that Texas cannot use a new congressional map drawn by Republicans in hopes of securing the party additional U.S. House seats, blocking the map from taking effect ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he plans on filing an appeal.

The 2-1 ruling followed a nearly two-week trial in El Paso. The court's decision marks a major setback for President Donald Trump’s efforts to push GOP-led legislatures in multiple states to redraw maps in order to preserve the party’s slim House majority during the potentially difficult 2026 cycle.

Texas this summer became the first state to meet Trump’s demands in what has grown into a nationwide redistricting battle. Republicans drew a new map that would have given the GOP five additional congressional seats. Missouri and North Carolina followed with new maps that each added one Republican seat, while California voters approved a ballot initiative designed to give Democrats five additional seats there.

The case was brought by a coalition of civil rights groups representing Black and Hispanic voters, who argued the map reduced the influence of minority voters and amounted to a racial gerrymander that violates the federal Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution.

They asked the court to prohibit Texas from using the new map while their challenge continues, which would require the state to revert to the map drawn by the Legislature in 2021 for next year’s elections.

What Texas elected officials are saying

Gov. Greg Abbott released the following statement following Tuesday's ruling:

“The Legislature redrew our congressional maps to better reflect Texans' conservative voting preferences – and for no other reason. Any claim that these maps are discriminatory is absurd and unsupported by the testimony offered during ten days of hearings. This ruling is clearly erroneous and undermines the authority the U.S. Constitution assigns to the Texas Legislature by imposing a different map by judicial edict. The State of Texas will swiftly appeal to the United States Supreme Court.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he planned to appeal the decision. His full statement read:

“The radical left is once again trying to undermine the will of the people. The Big Beautiful Map was entirely legal and passed for partisan purposes to better represent the political affiliations of Texas. For years, Democrats have engaged in partisan redistricting intended to eliminate Republican representation. Democratic states across the country, from California to Illinois to New York, have systematically reduced representation of Republican voters in their congressional delegations. But when Republicans respond in kind, Democrats rely on false accusations of racism to secure a partisan advantage. I will be appealing this decision to the Supreme Court of the United States, and I fully expect the Court to uphold Texas’s sovereign right to engage in partisan redistricting.”

Democratic lawmakers and candidates across the state celebrated the ruling. 

Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher said in a statement that “the court reached the right result in its decision to prevent the new Texas congressional map from going into effect for the 2026 elections.” Fletcher said “race drove Texas’s mid-decade redistricting efforts from start to finish,” and called the decision “an important victory.”

She added: “There is much more work to do to ensure that we have fair maps in Texas and across the United States, in the courts and in the Congress, and I am committed to continuing to be a partner and leader in this fight.”

Christian Menefee, a candidate for Congress in Texas’s 18th District, called the ruling confirmation that “this Trump-backed map was intentionally drawn to silence Black and Brown voters.” Menefee said: “From the racist maps to delaying the vote in the 18th Congressional District, Greg Abbott and Republicans are playing games with our democracy.”

Menefee added that the case is likely headed to the U.S. Supreme Court and said: “I hope the Court stands on the side of the Constitution and protects voters of color instead of letting politicians gut democracy in broad daylight.”

Democratic leaders in the Texas House also praised the ruling in coordinated statements.

Minority Leader Rep. Gene Wu called the blocked map “one of the most brazen attempts to steal our democracy that Texas has ever seen.”

Vice Chair Rep. Mihaela Plesa said the court reminded leaders that “our democracy is not negotiable.”

Vice Chair of the House Redistricting Committee Rep. Jon Rosenthal called the ruling “a monumental victory in the fight against racist gerrymandering in Texas and the country overall.”

Mexican American Legislative Caucus Chair Rep. Ramón Romero Jr. said the decision was a win for Texans who “believe in fair representation.”

Texas Legislative Black Caucus Chair Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins said she was “excited about the ruling of the courts” and “pleased with this ruling.”

What happens next

The panel’s ruling prevents Texas from using the new congressional map while the case moves forward. The judges did not indicate when a final decision may be issued. If the injunction holds, next year’s elections would use the map drawn by the Legislature in 2021.

No additional guidance from the court was released regarding the timeline for further hearings.

View this article in KHOU.