SCOTUS Upholds Disputed Texas Congressional Map

AUSTIN – The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for Texas to use its current congressional district map for the 2026 elections and potentially for the remainder of the decade, overturning a lower court’s decision that had mandated revisions to the controversial boundaries. The high court’s ruling, handed down on December 4, 2024, is seen as a significant victory for Texas Republicans and a setback for minority voting rights advocates.

The contentious map was drawn by the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature in 2021 following the 2020 census. Texas gained two additional congressional seats, increasing its total representation to 38 members in the U.S. House of Representatives. Almost immediately, a coalition of minority rights organizations and individual voters filed suit, alleging the map constituted an illegal racial gerrymander.

Plaintiffs argued the district lines intentionally diluted the voting power of Hispanic residents, particularly in rapidly growing and politically competitive urban and suburban areas such as Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, and portions of West Texas. They contended that the state engaged in “packing” minority voters into a few overwhelmingly Democratic districts while “cracking” others across several districts, making it more difficult for them to elect candidates of their choice.

A three-judge federal panel in the Western District of Texas initially agreed with the challengers. That panel found the 2021 map discriminatory and ordered the state to redraw certain districts. However, due to time constraints, the lower court permitted the map to be used for the 2022 general elections. It subsequently ordered changes for the 2024 cycle.

The Supreme Court first intervened in March 2024, issuing a stay on the lower court’s order. This allowed the disputed map to be used for the 2024 elections while the justices considered the full merits of the case.

In its latest 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court sided with the State of Texas. The majority opinion, without specifying an author in initial reports, asserted that the lower court had not properly applied the legal test for racial gerrymandering. The high court suggested the plaintiffs failed to sufficiently prove that race, rather than legitimate political considerations such as partisan advantage, was the *predominant* factor driving the drawing of the district lines. This legal standard often presents a high bar for challengers to overcome.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor authored a forceful dissent, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Sotomayor argued that the majority’s decision effectively “greenlights Texas’ plan to use racially gerrymandered maps in the 2026 election and likely beyond,” locking in political advantages that could last for a generation. She criticized the majority for allegedly sidestepping the factual findings of the lower court regarding discriminatory intent and impact.

Texas Republican leaders were quick to praise the Supreme Court’s ruling. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a statement hailing the decision as a vindication of the state’s legislative process and a victory against what he described as politically motivated lawsuits. “The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the constitutional authority of the Texas Legislature to draw its own district maps,” Paxton said, “and has affirmed that our maps comply with the law. This is a win for Texas and ensures stability for our electoral process.”

Conversely, voting rights organizations and Democratic lawmakers expressed deep disappointment. “Today’s ruling is a profound setback for democracy and for the rights of minority voters in Texas,” said a spokesperson for a coalition of plaintiffs. “The Supreme Court has effectively signaled that states can suppress minority voting power under the guise of partisan politics, making it even harder to challenge racially discriminatory maps in the future.” Democratic members of the Texas congressional delegation also voiced concerns that the ruling would cement underrepresentation for communities of color.

The Supreme Court’s decision means that the map drawn in 2021 will continue to dictate Texas’s representation in the U.S. House of Representatives for the foreseeable future, at least until the next redistricting cycle following the 2030 census. Legal experts suggest the ruling reinforces a trend of the Supreme Court making it more difficult to prove racial gerrymandering, potentially emboldening other states to prioritize partisan gains in their own redistricting efforts.