The U.S. Supreme Court on April 27 reinstated Texas’ Republican-drawn congressional map, clearing the way for lines that could give the GOP up to five additional House seats in the 2026 midterms, after a lower court ruled it likely amounted to an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
The 6-3 unsigned order follows an interim stay the high court issued in December 2025 and summarily reversed a federal district court’s November 2025 ruling blocking the map. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, as they did in December.
“Based on our preliminary evaluation of this case, Texas satisfies the traditional criteria for interim release,” the court wrote in its December 2025 stay. “Texas is likely to succeed on the merits of its claim that the district Court committed at least two serious errors.”
🚨 In a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court reversed a ruling that struck down the new Texas congressional map as a racial gerrymander, citing its December stay of that ruling. pic.twitter.com/n36tocZHnM
— SCOTUS Wire (@scotus_wire) April 27, 2026
A three-judge federal district court had ruled in November 2025 that the map — which was approved by the Texas legislature in August 2025, signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, and backed by President Donald Trump — violated the Constitution by sorting voters primarily on the basis of race to achieve a partisan goal. The Supreme Court’s December stay paused that injunction while the case was appealed, and the latest ruling clears the map for use in 2026.
The decision comes amid a broader national fight over mid-decade redistricting in which both parties are seeking advantages before the 2026 midterms. As Zeale News previously reported, Republicans have approved new maps in North Carolina and Missouri, while Democrats have advanced a new map in California and benefited from a court-mandated redraw in Utah.
Meanwhile, Virginia’s Supreme Court heard oral arguments April 27 over challenges to a newly approved map that could net Democrats up to four additional House seats, according to The Hill. In Florida, on the same day, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled a proposal that could add four Republican-leaning seats if approved by the legislature.
A Supreme Court ruling is still expected in a separate Louisiana redistricting case that could reshape how courts apply the Voting Rights Act, potentially triggering further changes across the South.