US Supreme Court allows Texas to use redrawn district map for 2026 midterms

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that the southern state of Texas may proceed with using a controversial map of congressional districts designed to favour Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections.

Thursday’s decision was split along ideological lines, with the court’s six conservative justices giving the new map the go-ahead and the three liberal ones joining together in dissent.
The ruling lifts a lower court’s order from November that had blocked Texas from using the new congressional map. The lower court had found that Texas had “racially gerrymandered” the districts, in violation of the US Constitution.

But Texas quickly filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, urging quick action to overturn the hold.

After all, it argued, campaigning for the midterm races in November 2026 is already underway, and candidates need to understand where their constituents lie.

In a brief, unsigned order, the conservative majority found that Texas was likely to prevail “on the merits of its claims”.

It also cited court precedent that “lower courts should ordinarily not alter the election rules on the eve of an election”. Doing otherwise, the order said, would cause “irreparable harm” to the state.

The map in question has set off a nationwide scramble to redesign congressional districts ahead of the all-important midterm races.

Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling is likely to fuel further attempts to redraw maps in favour of one party or another.

A nationwide trend
The controversy started in June, when reports emerged that President Donald Trump was pushing Texas state legislators to adopt a new congressional map, one that would help Republicans scoop up an extra five seats in the US House of Representatives.