SAN ANTONIO – It’s a Texas-sized toss-up.

Federal judges ruled Tuesday, Texas can’t change it’s congressional districts after Governor Greg Abbott signed new district maps into law this summer.

The three judges said Texas racially gerrymandered the new maps, ordering them to revert to the 2021.

From the ‘Texas Exodus’ to the governor signing the redistricting maps in August, the back-and-forth battle for Texas congressional lines has been hard to miss.

Democrats call Tuesday’s ruling a win, but the fight’s not over yet.

“This is like winning the first game in the three or four game playoff or five game playoff series,” said UTSA Political Science Chair Jon Taylor. “This is only round one.”

It’s an outcome Texas Democrats put everything on the line for.

“The significance of what happened in El Paso today is monumental for the people of Texas, and it is a win,” said District 19 Senator Roland Gutierrez. “People.. of both parties should celebrate what happened today.”

One of those judges in today’s ruling is a Republican, appointed by President Donald Trump, he determined Texas leaders racially gerrymandered the maps.

“It means that they basically redrew district lines to what’s called ‘packing and cracking’ persons of color into districts to basically dilute their strength and potential,” Taylor explained.

Governor Greg Abbott sternly disagreed with the court’s ruling.

“Any claim that these maps are discriminatory is absurd,” the Governor partially said in a statement.

Democratic leaders, who left the state for days to hold up the vote, called the ruling ‘the right one’. In July, many of them argued the move would ‘illegally supress’ black and Latino voters in Central Texas.

One of the largest changes involve the combining of District 35 and 37 under Congressmen Greg Casar and Lloyd Doggett.

Doggett, cashing in on a potential second chance ahead of a possible appeal.

“I can happily say that the reports of my death politically are greatly exaggerated,” Lloyd Doggett said in a video on social media. “I’m very fortunate to have the opportunity to continue to represent the only town I’ve ever called home.”

Both Governor Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton planned to appeal the decision to the U.S Supreme Court. Taylor said it could be expedited because of the fast-approaching 2026 midterms.

We’ll keep you updated as we follow that process.

Gov. Greg Abbott statement: “The Legislature redrew our congressional maps to better reflect Texans’ conservative voting preferences – and for no other reason. Any claim that these maps are discriminatory is absurd and unsupported by the testimony offered during ten days of hearings. This ruling is clearly erroneous and undermines the authority the U.S. Constitution assigns to the Texas Legislature by imposing a different map by judicial edict. The State of Texas will swiftly appeal to the United States Supreme Court.”