The ruling, authored by Trump-appointed Judge Jeffrey Brown is a sharp rebuke for Texas Republicans in the state house and senate
On Tuesday, a three-judge panel in El Paso blocked the state of Texas from using new congressional maps passed in a redistricting bill for the 2026 midterm election. The ruling, authored by Trump-appointed Judge Jeffrey Brown is a sharp rebuke for Texas Republicans in the state house and senate, who pursued mid-decade redistricting after overtures from the Trump White House this summer.
The new congressional districts were passed in a redistricting bill that was introduced in two special sessions of the Texas legislature. The first special session was ended after enough Texas House Democrats left the state to break quorum. Many House Democrats used the quorum break to raise awareness about the redistricting efforts underway in Texas, which they argued was expressly for the purpose of allowing Republicans to retain a majority in the U.S. House.
However, the redistricting bill did pass in both the House and Senate in a second special session. The three-judge panel in El Paso began hearing testimony from plaintiffs against the maps (which stemmed from litigation starting in 2021) in October. The state of Texas defended the new congressional maps, arguing they were not racially gerrymandered. One of the key players in the redistricting plan, the director of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, also testified the maps were not created with racial data.
The judges in El Paso disagreed with the state of Texas and their experts. In his opinion, Brown said there was “substantial evidence” that the state of Texas did racially gerrymander the 2025 map.
Several Texas Democrats praised the ruling from El Paso. “A federal court just stopped one of the most brazen attempts to steal our democracy that Texas has ever seen,” said Texas House Minority Leader Rep. Gene Wu.
Governor Abbott also released a statement after the ruling, and called the decision “erroneous.” He said the state of Texas would swiftly appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
This story will be updated as we receive reactions throughout the state
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