NEW: GOP Midterm Hopes Skyrocket As Another State Eyes Redistricting

Texas Governor Greb Abbott announced Wednesday that the state legislature will focus on redistricting during a special session later this year. The move could have far-reaching effects on the 2026 midterm elections, as Republicans seek to defend a narrow House majority.

In a press release outlining several legislative goals for the special session, the governor highlighted redistricting as a priority. Texas lawmakers will work to craft, “Legislation that provides a revised congressional redistricting plan in light of constitutional concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Justice,” the release reads.

The announcement comes after the Trump Administration raised “serious concerns” about the legality of four congressional districts in the Lonestar State. “As stated below, Congressional Districts TX-09, TX-18, TX-29 and TX-33 currently constitute unconstitutional ‘coalition districts’ and we urge the State of Texas to rectify these race-based considerations from these specific districts,” the DOJ’s civil rights division wrote in a letter addressed to Governor Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The letter cited Allen v. Milligan, a case focusing on redistricting in Alabama that went before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023, which dealt with racial gerrymandering and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The court ruled in a 5-3 decision, with Justices John Roberts and Bret Kavanaugh joining the courts three liberals, that Alabama “likely violated” Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by failing to provide minority voters “equal opportunity” to elect candidates of their choosing.

In its letter to Texas, the DOJ pointed to Justice Kavanaugh’s opinion, which noted that “even if Congress in 1982 could constitutionally authorize race-based redistricting under § 2 for some period of time, the authority to conduct race-based redistricting cannot extend indefinitely into the future.”

“In SFFA v. Harvard, the Supreme Court reiterated that “deviation from the norm of equal treatment” on account of race ‘must be a temporary matter.’ 600 U.S. 181, 228 (2023). When race is the predominant factor above other traditional redistricting considerations including compactness, contiguity, and respect for political subdivision lines, the State of Texas must demonstrate a compelling state interest to survive strict scrutiny,” the letter noted.

The letter further cited Perry v. Galveston County, which, “made it abundantly clear that “coalition districts” are not protected by the Voting Rights Act.” The decision further found that any minority group must be “geographically compact enough” to constitute more than 50 percent of the voting population in a single-member district to be protected under the Voting Rights Act.

“It is the position of this Department that several Texas Congressional Districts constitute unconstitutional racial gerrymanders, including the logic and reasoning of Perry v. Galveston County. Specifically, the record indicates that TX-09 and TX-18 border voters along racial lines to create two coalition seats, while TX-29 and TX-33 follow similar patterns of racial gerrymandering. Therefore, the State of Texas must rectify these districts,” the DOJ wrote.

“Although the State’s intent when configuring these districts was to comply with Fifth Circuit precedent prior to the 2024 Perry decision, that intent no longer exists. Post-Perry, the Congressional Districts at issue are nothing more than vestiges of an unconstitutional racially based gerrymandering past, which must be abandoned, and must now be corrected by Texas.”

Republicans control the state Legislature, governor’s office and state Supreme Court, which will theoretically allow the party to bypass any Democrat opposition to redistricting.

The decision comes on the heels of another welcoming development for Republicans as they seek to maintain their slim majority in the House. Late last month, the liberal-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court declined a Democrat-backed challenge to redraw the state’s congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. A re-draw was widely expected to benefit Democrats, as one seat would have almost certainly flipped blue while a second district would have become far more likely to do the same.

Ohio, where Republicans control the balance of power, is also

redistricting that would likely benefit the GOP come 2026.