Federal Court Strikes Down New Texas Map
November 20, 2025 · 2:29 PM EST
A three-judge panel in El Paso ordered Texas to return to its old congressional map for the 2026 midterm elections, rather than implement a new map the GOP-run legislature passed earlier this year in an attempt to pick up as many as five seats.
Under intense pressure from the White House over the summer, Texas Republicans had taken the unusual step of redrawing the state’s congressional map to demolish three Democrat-held seats in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, and endanger two more Democratic members in the Rio Grande Valley. The resultant map, which would have likely netted the GOP at least three and as many as five House seats, kicked off a national redistricting war that has resulted in new maps in California, Missouri, North Carolina and potentially Virginia, Florida, Indiana and Maryland.
District Judge Jeffrey Brown, a Trump appointee who was previously elected as a Republican to the Texas Supreme Court, wrote in his decision that “[s]ubstantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map” in violation of the 14th and 15th Amendments.
Republicans are expected to appeal the decision to the US Supreme Court, but time is already ticking and it’s not obvious if and how the court will rule before candidate filing closes on Dec. 8.
If Texas is forced to use its old map, passed in 2021 and used in the 2022 and 2024 elections, next year, Democrats will return at least three incumbents who otherwise would have likely exited Congress: 32nd District Rep. Julie Johnson, 37th District Rep. Lloyd Doggett, and the winner of the 18th District special election taking place next January (either former Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee or former Houston City Councilwoman Amanda Edwards).
Furthermore, Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez would get to run in slightly more favorable districts — though even under the old lines, both the 28th and 34th Districts were won by Donald Trump in the 2024 election. Those races would remain competitive.
Beyond the five targeted districts, Democrats would still have sparingly few offensive opportunities, largely limited to the majority-Hispanic 15th and 23rd Districts.
Taking a step back, if the new Texas map fails to launch, it would be an embarrassing defeat for the Trump White House and House Republicans, who have staked enormous political capital this year on their redistricting efforts beginning in Texas.
But more than just the embarrassment, it could actually leave the party in worse shape than before the GOP triggered the redistricting war. Due to successful Democratic countermeasures spurred on by the Texas redraw, Democrats might actually end this year with a greater number of favorable districts than they started with. With the historical tailwinds of a midterm election, that would leave Democrats well-situated to win back the majority next year.