Texas redistricting plan approved

The U.S. Supreme Court has approved Texas’ GOPfriendly redistricting map to remain in place for the 2026 midterm elections.

It passed by a 6-3 margin, the conservative wing approving and the three left-wing justices dissenting.

The ruling came after a lower court recently tossed out the maps. Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott appealed that decision.

The decision is seen as a path for Republicans to add five additional seats in the House of Representatives, helping preserve the majority there.

Fred Lucas,The Daily Signal’s White House correspondent, reported the opinion in Abbott v. LULAC read in part, “Texas is likely to succeed on the merits of its claim that the District Court committed at least two serious errors.” The opinion mentioned that the lower court “improperly inserted itself into an active primary campaign, causing much confusion and upsetting the delicate federal-state balance in elections.”

Texas is not the only state to consider redistricting ahead of the 2026 midterms. California voters passed Proposition 50 in November to redraw maps with the maps designed to increase California’s nearly total Democratic representation in the House. Those maps have also been challenged.

Both sides of the political aisle have been pushing for redistricting, with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance urging red states to redraw their maps. Vance has indicated Republicans need to act after years of “very aggressive Democratic tricks” on redistricting.

Midterms look to be particularly consequential, with Republicans only narrowly controlling the House while also maintaining a slim majority in the Senate.