Supreme Court Allows Texas To Use Racially Gerrymandered Map
Supreme Court Allows Texas To Use Racially Gerrymandered Map In Midterms
In news that can be filed under “disappointing, but not surprising,” the Supreme Court issued a 6-3 ruling allowing Texas to use its recently redistricted map in the 2026 midterms.
According to CBS News, the ruling came after a panel of federal judges struck down the map last month. In the original ruling, the judges found the map unconstitutional, believing it was racially gerrymandered. In an unsigned order, the Supreme Court said it “has repeatedly emphasized that lower federal courts should ordinarily not alter the election rules on the eve of an election,” and the district court “violated that rule here.”
“The District Court improperly inserted itself into an active primary campaign, causing much confusion and upsetting the delicate federal-state balance in elections,” the order continued.
So the Supreme Court’s logic boils down to “it doesn’t matter if it’s wrong, they already did it, so just accept it.”
Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan pushed back against the ruling in a written dissent. “The court issued a 160-page opinion recounting in detail its factual findings. Yet this Court reverses that judgment based on its perusal, over a holiday weekend, of a cold paper record.” Kagan wrote. “We are a higher court than the District Court, but we are not a better one when it comes to making such a fact-based decision,” she added.
“We won! Texas is officially—and legally—more red,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement celebrating the ruling. “The new congressional districts better align our representation in Washington D.C. with the values of our state,” Abbott added. “This is a victory for Texas voters, for common sense, and for the U.S. Constitution.”
I dislike this man so much that I was briefly concerned it made me an ableist, until realizing it just makes me an equal-opportunity hater. What’s more progressive than that?
Texas Democrats were far less celebratory of the ruling, and for good reason. Over the summer, Texas Democrats used every measure at their disposal to block the Texas redistricting effort. They filibustered, fled the state to break quorum, and their efforts even resulted in state Rep. Nicole Collier being held as a political prisoner on the House floor.
“The Supreme Court failed Texas voters today, and they failed American democracy. This is what the end of the Voting Rights Act looks like: courts that won’t protect minority communities even when the evidence is staring them in the face,” Texas state House Democratic Leader Rep. Gene Wu said in a statement.
The Texas map triggered a nationwide redistricting battle. In July, Abbott called a special session focused on redistricting at the request of President Donald Trump. The GOP controls the House by a narrow margin, with Democrats only needing a net gain of three seats to flip control during next year’s midterms. The Texas state legislature eventually passed a map that added five new districts that favor Republicans.
While the Supreme Court is allowing Texas to utilize its redistricted map, the gains made within it have largely been neutralized by California’s redistricting effort. California Gov. Gavin Newsom was the first Democratic leader to throw a counterpunch when he announced the “Election Rigging Response Act” in August. That move triggered a special election last month focused solely on Prop 50, which transfers control of the state’s congressional maps from an independent redistricting committee to the state legislature through the end of the decade. California voters overwhelmingly approved the measure, and Newsom intends to implement a map that directly cancels out the gains made in Texas.
Virginia’s Democrat-led General Assembly also announced a surprise redistricting effort last month that aims to create two to three more seats in the House, with Chicago and Maryland also considering redrawing their maps.
So while the Supreme Court’s ruling undeniably sucks for Democratic voters in Texas, the electoral math for flipping control of the House is still reasonably close.
SEE ALSO:
President Trump Eyes Florida And Indiana In Redistricting Push
California Gov. Gavin Newsom Signs Bill Launching Redistricting Effort
Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe Sets Special Session For Redistricting
Texas Democrats Will Return To State After Special Session Ends
Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom Counters Texas Redistricting Effort With One Of His Own
Redistricting: Majority Black Voting Maps Rejected In Louisiana
Critics Call Texas Governor’s New Congressional Map Gerrymandering
US Senator John Cornyn, FBI Team Up To Hunt Texas Democrats
Texas State Dems Break Quorum To Prevent Redistricting Vote
Gov. Greg Abbott Orders Arrest Of Texas Democrats
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Sues To Remove Democratic Rep In Redistricting Fight
Racial Gerrymandering Lawsuit Filed Over Texas Voting Map
Supreme Court Allows Texas To Use Racially Gerrymandered Map In Midterms was originally published on newsone.com
