Gerrymandering

The administrative ruling is a first step before the court decides whether to pause the use of the 2025 map, drawn to increase GOP seats in the U.S. House, for the rest of the legal battle.

The U.S. Supreme Court will now make a final decision on whether Texas can use its new congressional map, which was drawn this summer to benefit Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections. The outcome could have a huge impact on which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives in the future.

The Republican party’s effort to gerrymander Texas to give them five additional seats in Congress took a blow this week when a federal court threw out their map. A federal judge said there was substantial evidence that the map was drawn to hurt minority voters. Attorney General Ken Paxton said he would appeal.

A federal court in El Paso had earlier Tuesday placed a temporary block on the map that Republican lawmakers passed this summer and ordered the state to use the district maps from the last two elections.

California voted to approve Prop 50, a measure to change election maps. Rep. Kevin Kiley, whose district will be impacted by the new map, has introduced legislation banning mid-decade gerrymandering.

A panel of three federal judges in El Paso are now hearing arguments in a lawsuit challenging the controversial new map of Texas' congressional districts. The judges' decision will determine whether Texas can use the map in the 2026 midterm elections.

The saga of the Texas mid-decade redistricting of congressional districts is one of the biggest political stories of the year. Here's a timeline of the major milestones.

Civil rights groups say Texas' new Congressional maps are racially gerrymandered. But Texas Republicans say the maps are partisan — which the Supreme Court said is legal.

Why Gov. Abbott ordered the Texas Legislature to “prohibit same day voter registration in Texas.” And the court challenge to the controversial congressional redistricting says it's an illegal racial gerrymander.

After President Trump ordered Texas to immediately redistrict its congressional map to deliver five additional Republican congressional seats, California Democrats responded with their own redistricting scheme. How does gerrymandering work? Why is this allowed? What does this mean for a viable democracy?