The Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for Texas to use its new congressional map in the upcoming 2026 midterms, granting a major victory to President Donald Trump and GOP leaders who have pushed a nationwide strategy of mid-decade redistricting to shore up Republican control of the House.
The unsigned order blocks a lower federal court ruling that found the map likely unconstitutional on racial-gerrymandering grounds and said the boundaries could not be used.
The ruling, which arrived just days before Texas’s December 8 candidate filing deadline, means the state can proceed with a map expected to flip as many as five Democratic-held seats into the Republican column. With Republicans currently clinging to a narrow majority, those pickups could determine the balance of power for the final two years of Trump’s presidency.
The justices said the lower court “likely did so in error” when it blocked the map and criticized the panel for failing to honor “the presumption of legislative good faith by construing ambiguous direct and circumstantial evidence against the legislature.”
The Supreme Court also said the district court violated the Purcell principle, which warns federal judges against making late-breaking changes to election rules.
“The District Court improperly inserted itself into an active primary campaign, causing much confusion and upsetting the delicate federal-state balance in elections.”
Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, wrote that it was “indisputable” the “impetus for the adoption of the Texas map (like the map subsequently adopted in California) was partisan advantage pure and simple.”
That assertion is legally significant because federal courts may not intervene in partisan gerrymandering cases. The constitutional question is whether race — not politics — drove the design of the districts.
Left-wing Justice Elena Kagan dissented, writing that the majority “disserves the millions of Texans whom the District Court found were assigned to their new districts based on their race.” She accused her conservative colleagues of usurping the role of the trial court.
“The majority can reach the result it does – overturning the District Court’s finding of racial line-drawing, even if to achieve partisan goals – only by arrogating to itself that court’s rightful function. We know better, the majority declares today. I cannot think of a reason why.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton celebrated the ruling, declaring, “The Big Beautiful Map will be in effect for 2026. Texas is paving the way as we take our country back, district by district, state by state. 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.” Gov. Greg Abbott echoed him: “Texas is officially – and legally – more red.”
The political ramifications were immediate. With the Supreme Court’s ruling clearing the map for use, Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett is now officially being drawn out of her current district and is expected to face a difficult path to reelection or be forced to run elsewhere, a shift already ricocheting across Texas political circles.
Crockett didn’t take kindly to the celebration about her being potentially redistricted out of office.
“It is hilarious to me that me saying that I will announce what I plan to do on 12/8, like I’ve been saying is scaring the heck out of so many people. The attacks are hilarious… note to those that don’t know how politics works… only the threat gets attacked [shrug emoji],” she wrote on X.
“Again, my decision to go one way or another will be based upon facts & not feelings… historical data, trends, etc.,” she added.
Crockett is expected to announced a run for senate in the State of Texas, where she is likely to suffer a fate no different than that of fellow progressive Beto O’Rourke.
