Trump-Appointed Judge May Have Just Cost Republicans Nearly Half A Dozen House Seats

A three-judge federal panel ruled on Tuesday that Texas can’t use the GOP-drawn redistricting map designed to boost Republican chances in the 2026 midterm elections.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the new map into law in August, which would add up to five additional House seats for the Republican Party in the midterms, The Texas Tribune reported. However, the 2-1 Tuesday ruling asserts the map was “racially gerrymandered.”

A judge appointed by President Donald Trump joined a judge appointed by former President Obama in the ruling. A judge appointed by former President Ronald Reagan dissented.

“The public perception of this case is that it’s about politics. To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 Map,” the ruling states. “But it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map.”

Texas is anticipated to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, according to the Associated Press.

Civil rights organizations representing black and Hispanic voters asserted the map dilutes minority voters’ power, claiming it amounts to a racial gerrymander that breaches both the federal Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution, according to the AP. The judges granted their request to block the map during their case, mandating Texas use its 2021 map during the 2026 midterms.

Moreover, California voters on Nov. 4 approved Proposition 50 to suspend the state’s independent redistricting commission and enact a partisan map to counter Texas’ map. The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Thursday that it was suing Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Secretary of State Shirley Weber over the map, which also creates as many as five additional Democratic House seats ahead of the midterms.