The preliminary injunction temporarily halted plans by Gov. Greg Abbott and the Republican-led Legislature. The court said the months-old redistricting plan wrongly undercuts voting strength for Blacks and Latinos and cannot be used for next year\u2019s elections.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Abbott, following the wishes of President Donald Trump, pushed the plan through a special legislative session this summer against Democratic objections that included many of them scrambling to other states in an unsuccessful effort to block passage of the new map. The plan was designed to potentially give the president a pick-up of five GOP congressional seats<\/a> from Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n Veasey, whose congressional district spans parts of Tarrant and Dallas counties<\/a>, was one of several Democratic incumbents whose congressional base would have been uprooted by the plan. District 33 would have been shifted solely to Dallas County in the map the judges blocked.<\/p>\n The three-judge decision directs congressional candidates to run under maps drawn in 2021. Abbott pledges to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.\u00a0<\/p>\n Asked if he plans to seek reelection from the congressional seat he has held since 2013, Veasey responded, \u201cYes, sir, I\u2019ll run in my current District 33.\u201d<\/p>\n Veasey acknowledged he was considering other political options<\/a>, including running for another congressional seat but is now laser-focused on the 33rd district.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHad the Republicans won their case today, I was looking at other options,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The incumbent lawmaker said he is \u201ccautiously optimistic\u201d that Tuesday\u2019s ruling will hold.<\/p>\n Abbott reasserted in a statement that the redistricting plans were drawn \u201cto better reflect Texans\u2019 conservative voting preferences and for no other reason.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAny claim that these maps are discriminatory is absurd and unsupported by the testimony during ten days of hearings,\u201d the governor said in his statement. \u201cThis 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.\u201d<\/p>\n In issuing the preliminary injunction against the mid-decade redistricting plan, the three-judge, Republican panel set aside the map for use in the fast-approaching 2026 elections. The judges ordered that Texas congressional elections be conducted under the lines drawn in 2021.<\/p>\n Ruling in favor of six plaintiff groups in a lengthy opinion, the panel noted that there was little doubt that racial factors shaped the congressional map.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe public perception of this case is that it\u2019s about politics,\u201d the judges declared in an opening sentence. \u201cTo be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 Map. But it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map.\u201d<\/p>\n The redistricting plan, which aimed at potentially giving President Donald Trump five new Texas Republican seats in Congress, emerged from a special legislative session in August. Democratic legislators fiercely opposed the effort and staged a weekslong boycott by fleeing to other states.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sentiments shifted dramatically after Tuesday\u2019s ruling, with Abbott vigorously denouncing the decision and Democrats praising it.<\/p>\n Veasey acknowledged that \u201cthis fight is far from over\u201d as Abbott vowed that the state of Texas \u201cwill swiftly appeal to the United States Supreme Court.\u201d<\/p>\n The El Paso judges also have been reviewing state and legislative districts from the 2021 plan \u2014 including the redrawn Texas Senate District 10<\/a> that includes part of Tarrant County.\u00a0<\/p>\n It is unclear when a ruling on that aspect of the state\u2019s redistricting plans will be made. The panel is made up of U.S. Judges Jeffrey Brown, David Guaderrama and Jerry Smith. Brown, a Trump appointee, wrote the Nov. 18 opinion, according to news reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dave Montgomery is an Austin-based freelance reporter for the Fort Worth Report.<\/p>\n The Fort Worth Report\u2019s Texas legislative coverage is supported by Kelly Hart<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n Republish This Story<\/p>\n
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