Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced Wednesday that the state legislature will prioritize redistricting during a special session later this year, a move that could significantly impact the 2026 midterm elections as Republicans aim to protect their slim House majority.
In a press release detailing several legislative priorities for the special session, the governor emphasized redistricting. 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 says.
The announcement follows the Trump Administration’s expression of “serious concerns” over the legality of four congressional districts in the Lone Star 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 referenced Allen v. Milligan, a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court case addressing redistricting in Alabama that involved racial gerrymandering and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In a 5-3 decision, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joining the Court’s three liberal justices, the Court found that Alabama had “likely violated” Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by denying minority voters an “equal opportunity” to elect candidates of their choice.
In its letter to Texas, the Justice Dept. 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.”
The letter noted further, “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 also referenced Perry v. Galveston County, which “made it abundantly clear that ‘coalition districts’ are not protected by the Voting Rights Act.” The ruling further established that, to qualify for protection under the Act, a minority group must be “geographically compact enough” to comprise more than 50 percent of the voting population within a single-member district.
“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.”
The decision follows another positive development for Republicans aiming to preserve their narrow House majority. Late last month, the liberal-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected a Democrat-backed effort to redraw the state’s congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The proposed redistricting was widely expected to favor Democrats, with one seat almost certain to flip blue and a second district becoming significantly more competitive.
