"Then on Tuesday, a federal court dealt the White House and Republicans in the state of Texas, especially Governor Greg Abbott, a whopping kick to the nether regions. The court blocked a map that emerged from an unprecedented midterm redistricting. Then, it ruled that the state must conduct its midterm elections next year according to a map drawn in 2021. The opinion was 166 pages long, and it was authored by U.S. Judge Jeffrey Brown, a Trump appointee who earlier clerked for Abbott"
"The public perception of this case is that it's about politics, U.S. Judge Jeffrey Brown, a Trump appointee, wrote in the ruling striking down the new lines. 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. A mark, that will surely leave."
"Brown ordered that the 2026 congressional election shall proceed under the map that the Texas Legislature enacted in 2021. Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement that his office would ask the U.S. Supreme Court to refuse the ruling and allow the map to go into effect. But time is short: Candidates only have until December 8 to file for the upcoming election."
A state court in Utah invalidated an electoral map designed to protect that state's unanimously Republican U.S. House delegation. A federal judge in Texas blocked a midterm redistricting map and ordered that the 2026 congressional election use the map the Texas Legislature enacted in 2021. U.S. Judge Jeffrey Brown authored a 166-page opinion and found substantial evidence of racial gerrymandering despite political motives. Attorney General Ken Paxton said his office would ask the U.S. Supreme Court to refuse the ruling. Candidates face a December 8 filing deadline. The contested map cleared the GOP legislature in August and was quickly signed by Governor Greg Abbott. Advocacy groups sued alleging dilution of Black and Hispanic voting power, and a nine-day hearing took place.
Read at www.esquire.com
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