The US Supreme Court on Thursday allowed Texas to use redrawn congressional districts for the 2026 midterm elections, boosting the hopes of President Donald Trump’s Republicans to retain control of the House of Representatives.
The decision by the conservative-dominated court stayed a lower ruling which had said the redrawn maps — pushed for by Trump — had incorrectly used race to set district lines.
The new maps carve out five new House districts in Texas that are likely to vote Republican, making it significantly harder for Democrats to win control of Congress and throw a wrench into Trump’s often unchecked power.
“Texas needs certainty on which map will govern the 2026 midterm elections, so I will not delay the Court’s order,” Justice Samuel J. Alito, one of six conservatives on the court, wrote in his concurring opinion.
The three liberal justices on the Supreme Court all dissented with the order, which was unsigned.
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“The District Court conducted a nine-day hearing… And after considering all the evidence, it held that the answer was clear. Texas largely divided its citizens along racial lines to create its new pro-Republican House map,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her dissent.
While the ruling is technically only a temporary halt to the lower court ruling, it effectively ensures the Republican-favoured map will be in effect for the 2026 midterms.
Texas’s move to redraw its districts kicked off a race for other states to follow suit, eschewing the norm of only conducting redistricting once a decade.
Democratic-run California has already approved a new electoral map that would also create five districts more likely to vote for the left-leaning party.
Those maps have been challenged in court by the Republican Party of California in a lawsuit that has received the backing of the Trump administration.
Republicans in North Carolina have also redrawn that state’s map, while efforts are underway in Indiana, Missouri, and elsewhere.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
