TheUS Supreme Courton Thursday allowedTexasto use redrawn congressional districts for the 2026 midterm elections, boosting the hopes of PresidentDonald Trumps Republicans to retain control of the House of Representatives.
The decision by the conservative-dominated court stayed a lower ruling which had said the redrawn maps pushed for by Trump had incorrectly used race to set district lines.
The new maps carve out five new House districts in Texas that are likely to voteRepublican, making it significantly harder for Democrats to win control of Congress and throw a wrench into Trumps often unchecked power.
Texas needs certainty on which map will govern the 2026 midterm elections, so I will not delay the Courts order, Justice Samuel J. Alito, one of six conservatives on the court, wrote in his concurring opinion.
The threeliberaljustices on the Supreme Court all dissented with the order, which was unsigned.
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The District Court conducted a nine-day hearing And after considering all the evidence, it held that the answer was clear. Texas largely divided its citizens along racial lines to create its new pro-Republican House map, Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her dissent.
While the ruling is technically only a temporary halt to the lower court ruling, it effectively ensures the Republican-favoured map will be in effect for the 2026 midterms.
Texass move to redraw its districts kicked off a race for other states to follow suit, eschewing the norm of only conducting redistricting once a decade.
Democratic-runCaliforniahas already approved a new electoral map that would also create five districts more likely to vote for the left-leaning party.
Those maps have been challenged in court by the Republican Party of California in a lawsuit that has received the backing of the Trump administration.
Republicans in North Carolina have also redrawn that states map, while efforts are underway in Indiana, Missouri, and elsewhere.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Originally published on France24
