3-judge panel that held hearings in El Paso rules that Texas cannot use new congressional district map; Paxton appealing
Update (12:42 PM): Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says he will file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court to ask for a stay of order.
“The radical left is once again trying to undermine the will of the people," Paxton stated. "The Big Beautiful Map was entirely legal and passed for partisan purposes to better represent the political affiliations of Texas. For years, Democrats have engaged in partisan redistricting intended to eliminate Republican representation. Democratic states across the country, from California to Illinois to New York, have systematically reduced representation of Republican voters in their congressional delegations. But when Republicans respond in kind, Democrats rely on false accusations of racism to secure a partisan advantage. I will be appealing this decision to the Supreme Court of the United States, and I fully expect the Court to uphold Texas’s sovereign right to engage in partisan redistricting.”
Update (12:40 PM): Texas Governor Greg Abbott released the following statement on the panel's decision:
“The Legislature redrew our congressional maps to better reflect Texans' conservative voting preferences – and for no other reason. Any claim that these maps are discriminatory is absurd and unsupported by the testimony offered during ten days of hearings. This ruling is clearly erroneous and undermines the authority the U.S. Constitution assigns to the Texas Legislature by imposing a different map by judicial edict. The State of Texas will swiftly appeal to the United States Supreme Court.”
Governor Greg Abbott
Update (12:00 PM): Reaction is pouring in from Texas lawmakers. James Talarico, a current Texas State Representative who is running to become a U.S. Senator, released the following statement:
“My fellow Texas Democrats and I broke quorum to shine a national spotlight on Trump’s redistricting power grab.
We inspired other states and millions of Americans to join the fight.
Moments ago a federal court struck down his rigged map.
This is why we fight back.”
James Talarico
Texas House of Representatives Minority Leader Rep. Gene Wu sent the following statement:
“A federal court just stopped one of the most brazen attempts to steal our democracy that Texas has ever seen. Greg Abbott and his Republican cronies tried to silence Texans’ voices to placate Donald Trump, but now have delivered him absolutely nothing. The governor delayed relief for victims of the July 4th flooding in Kerr County, weaponized law enforcement against us, filed frivolous lawsuits to intimidate us, and still lost. Today, a federal court saw through Greg Abbott’s lies, and Texas families won.”
Texas House Democratic Caucus Vice Chair Rep. Mihaela Plesa also released a statement:
“Today, a federal court reminded Greg Abbott that our democracy is not negotiable. Texans didn’t ask for mid-decade redistricting, the White House did. The court finally saw through this unfair and illegal power grab and blocked them. This victory today belongs to every Texan who testified, who organized, who spoke truth to power and made this possible."
Texas House of Representatives Committee on Redistricting Vice Chair Rep. Jon Rosenthal is also commenting with his own statement:
“This is a monumental victory in the fight against racist gerrymandering in Texas and the country overall. This is a huge win for fair representation of Black and Latino communities. The work does not end here. We will continue to fight.”
Mexican American Legislative Caucus Chair Rep. Ramón Romero, Jr. released the following statement, which reads in part:
“Today’s ruling is a win for every Texan who believes in fair representation. The court confirmed what we’ve said from the beginning — this map was designed to divide communities of color and silence their voices. This decision restores faith that the law still protects voters, not politicians."
Texas Legislative Black Caucus Chair Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins sent out this statement:
“As Chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, I’m excited about the ruling of the courts to deny the Republicans the ability to draw maps that not only hurt communities across Texas and confuse our constituents on who they will be voting for in 2026. The court made a great decision in denying such action. I’m pleased with this ruling.”
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- A three-judge panel has ruled that Texas cannot move forward with its new congressional map for the 2026 election. The panel of federal judges held hearings in El Paso over ten days at the beginning of October.
The panel consisted of two district court judges, one of whom is based in El Paso, and one circuit court judge. Political experts say the two to one decision is considered a blow for Republicans, who were pushing for a new congressional district map that would likely have yielded Republican control of 30 of the 38 districts.
Judge Brown wrote the majority opinion with Judge Guaderrama agreeing. Judge Smith dissented, and is expected to file a separate opinion soon.
"The Court grants the Plaintiff Groups' motions for preliminary injunction as to their racial gerrymandering claims," the majority opinion's conclusion reads. The court also ordered the State of Texas to use the 2021 map, as it did in the 2022 and 2024 elections.
Read through the panel's majority opinion above.
The fight over redistricting in Texas became national news earlier this year when more than a dozen Democratic lawmakers left the state in an effort to break quorum and prevent a vote on the new map. In response to Texas Republicans' efforts to pass the new map, Democrats in California launched an effort to redistrict that state. The measure was passed by California voters earlier this month.
