A US federal court has halted the redrawing of electoral districts in Texas. The court ruled that the redistricting process initiated by the Republican Party in Texas cannot be used in the 2026 midterm elections.
A US federal court has halted the redrawing of electoral districts in the state of Texas. A court ruled on Tuesday that a redistricting process initiated by Republicans in southern states cannot be used in next year’s midterm elections. In contrast, newly designed constituencies from 2021 will have to apply.
A setback for Trump and the Republican Party
With the redesign, Republicans want to get five additional mandates from President Donald Trump to secure a Republican majority. The decision is therefore a setback for Trump, who had been pushing for a redesign.
Voters in Africa and Latin America have criticized regional expansion as discriminatory against minority groups.
Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott said he would appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. Conservative judges constitute the majority there.
California responded with its own redesign
The redrawing of electoral districts in Texas caused Democratic-leaning California to also redraw its electoral districts. This temporary measure is intended to add five seats for the Democratic Party in the DPR. Southwest state residents approved the measure in a referendum earlier this month. Republicans in California are taking legal action against the new plan, backed by the Trump administration.
Republicans in Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio have also taken steps to flip more districts to their favor in their states.
The Democratic Party hopes to take back the House of Representatives
The Republican Party led by Trump currently has a slim majority of five seats in the House of Representatives. They also have a majority in the second house of Congress, the Senate. However, the ruling party usually suffers heavy defeats in midterm elections. Therefore, the Democratic Party hopes to retake the House of Representatives in the fall of 2026.
The re-designation of electoral districts is based on census data
The practice of drawing districts for political reasons has a long tradition in the US and has repeatedly come to the attention of the Supreme Court. It’s called “gerrymandering”: The word is made up of the name Elbridge Gerry, an 18th-century governor of Massachusetts, and the word salamander. Gerry has designed the electoral districts in his state to his advantage so that they are shaped like salamanders.
Typically, electoral districts are redrawn every ten years based on population structure census data. The redesign was intended to take into account changing demographics and meet the constitutional requirement that all electoral districts in a state must have approximately the same population.
