U.S. Supreme Court clears way for Texas’ new congressional map in 2026 elections
The U.S. Supreme Court says Texas can use its new congressional map that positions Republicans to gain five seats in Congress in the 2026 midterms.
The court handed down the ruling on Thursday, siding with the state. It wrote that Texas would likely win its arguments that a lower court was erroneous in blocking use of the map in the 2026 elections.
“The District Court improperly inserted itself into an active primary campaign, causing much confusion and upsetting the delicate federal-state balance in elections,” the order reads, according to a copy shared by a Politico reporter on X. The order was not immediately available on the Supreme Court website.
Justice Samuel Alito in a concurring opinion, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, wrote that “the impetus for the adoption of the Texas map (like the map subsequently adopted in California) was partisan advantage pure and simple.” Opponents of the map argue it was drawn in a way that disenfranchises Black and Hispanic voters.
Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson – the court’s three Democratic appointees – dissented.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton celebrated that the “Big Beautiful Map will be in effect for 2026” in a Thursday statement.
“Texas is paving the way as we take our country back, district by district, state by state,” Paxton said. “This map reflects the political climate of our state and is a massive win for Texas and every conservative who is tired of watching the left try to upend the political system with bogus lawsuits.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said “we won!” in a statement responding to the Supreme Court’s decision
“Texas is officially — and legally — more red,” Abbott said.
After an October hearing in El Paso, a three judge panel — with one judge dissenting — blocked the 2025 map from being used in the coming midterms.
“The public perception of this case is that it’s about politics,” said U.S. District Judge Jeffrey V. Brown on the Nov. 18 order. “To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 Map. But it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map.”
Brown, a President Donald Trump appointee, delivered the opinion on behalf of himself and Senior U.S. District Judge David C. Guaderrama. U.S. Circuit Judge Jerry E. Smith dissented.
The state then appealed the decision that halted the new map from being used in the 2026 election to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Texas engaged in partisan redistricting solely to secure more Republican seats in Congress and thereby better represent our state and Texans,” Paxton said in a Nov. 21 statement. ”For years, Democrats have aggressively gerrymandered their states and only cry foul and hurl baseless ‘racism’ accusations because they are losing.”
On Nov. 21, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito temporarily allowed for the map’s use 2026 as the court considered which map should be used for the midterm elections.
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin called the court’s Thursday decision wrong “both morally and legally” in a statement.
“Once again, the Supreme Court gave Trump exactly what he wanted: a rigged map to help Republicans avoid accountability in the midterms for turning their backs on the American people,” Martin said. “But it will backfire. Texas Democrats fought every step of the way against these unlawful, rigged congressional maps and sparked a national movement. Democrats are fighting back, responding in kind to even the playing field across the country.”
The legal battle coincides with candidate filing for the 2026 March primary election. Candidate filing opened on Nov. 8 and runs through Dec. 8.
Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare and five other county officials from Texas told the Supreme Court in a Nov. 24 filing that the 2025 map should be used because the Nov. 18 order blocking the new map is “legally incoherent and unworkable for those charged with administering Texas election.”
The new map significantly changes Congressional District 33, moving the North Texas district fully into Dallas County and out Tarrant County. Currently, it includes portions of both counties, including part of Fort Worth.
U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, a Fort Worth Democrat, currently holds the seat, but no longer lives in the district as drawn. Members of Congress do not have to live in the districts they represent.
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This story was originally published December 4, 2025 at 5:38 PM.
