- Federal judge blocks Texas’ new congressional map for 2026.
- Court orders use of 2021 district lines instead.
- Decision deals blow to GOP, approved under Trump’s urging.
President Donald Trump's attempts to have Republican lawmakers in several states modify their boundaries in order to support the party in maintaining its narrow House majority in the possibly challenging 2026 midterm elections were hampered by the decision.
“The public perception of this case is that it’s about politics. To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 Map. But it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map,”
the ruling states.
This summer, Texas became the first state to comply with Trump's demands in the growing national redistricting dispute. Republicans created a new map for the state that gave the GOP five more seats. Then, they created new maps for Missouri and North Carolina, each of which added a Republican seat. Voters in California supported a ballot proposal to grant Democrats five more seats in response to their actions.
The trial in El Paso, Texas, lasted over two weeks before the 2-1 ruling.
The judges' decision to approve the critics' motion indicates that they believe the critics have a good chance of winning their case in court. Trump, Republican President Ronald Reagan, and Democratic President Barack Obama all appointed judges.
Republicans in Texas frequently stated during and after the Legislature's summer discussions that they were redrawing districts only to favor Republicans in gaining more seats. In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that partisan gerrymandering is a political matter outside the purview of federal courts, allowing states to pursue it.
Republicans control 25 of Texas's 38 congressional seats, while Democrats control two of their 13 seats in districts that Trump won in 2024.
What are the immediate effects on the 2026 candidate filing timeline?
Campaigners will have to file their paperwork grounded on the 2021 congressional chart rather than the recently proposed 2025 chart. The court explicitly aimed to issue its ruling before the December 8, 2025 seeker form deadline for the 2026 primaries.
Texas election officers will retain the deadline but must accept forms according to the 2021 quarter boundaries, conceivably taking campaigners to acclimate their strategies or juggernauts to the aged districts.However, posterior changes could complicate the process, but for now, If the ruling is capsized on appeal.
The immediate effect is that Texas campaigners for 2026 must file based on the preliminarily used 2021 chart with no extension to filing deadlines, icing stability and clarity ahead of the election cycle.