A three-judge federal panel in El Paso issued a temporary injunction on Tuesday blocking Texas’s 2025 congressional maps, which were drawn and approved by the Republican-led legislature. The court found “substantial evidence of racial gerrymandering” in the new district lines.
The ruling has introduced uncertainty into the state’s political landscape, coming just ahead of the December 8th filing deadline for the upcoming 2026 midterm elections. The court order mandates the use of the 2021 congressional maps for the current election cycle.
Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett commented on the decision, asserting that the new maps were ‘discriminatory’ from their inception.
She noted that the state’s population is “61% people of color” and argued that the challenged maps disproportionately empowered the minority 39% of the population, leading to a “dilution of the voices of people of color in this state.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott challenged the ruling, calling it “erroneous” and announcing that the state will “swiftly appeal directly to the US Supreme Court.”
Congresswoman Crockett acknowledged that the legal battle is not complete. Regarding the potential for a Supreme Court intervention before the filing deadline, she expressed doubt about the court’s immediate involvement, noting that the ruling is a temporary injunction rather than a final judgment on the map’s legality. She also pointed out that the three-judge panel—which included two Republican appointees—was not a “far-lefty liberal court” but a “conservative majority that stuck to the facts.”
She added that the injunction was granted based on the potential for the maps to cause “irreparable harm” if allowed to take effect.
READ: Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett Delays Senate Decision, Hinging On Polling To ‘Add To The Electorate’
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