A three-judge panel ruled that Texas cannot use its new congressional map for the 2026 election and must use the lines passed in 2021.
The decision comes 10 days into the month-long period when candidates can sign up for the March primary. The filing deadline is Dec. 8.
U.S. Judge Jeffrey Brown, a Trump appointee, wrote in the ruling that the election “shall proceed under the map that the Texas Legislature enacted in 2021.” The case will likely be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The new map cleared the GOP-controlled Legislature in August and was quickly signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott. Several advocacy groups sued over the new district lines pointing at what were deemed gerrymandered maps. Over the course of a nine-day hearing in El Paso earlier this month, they said that it was in voters’ best interest to shelve the new map until a full trial could be held.
Unlike most federal lawsuits, which are heard by a single district judge and then appealed to a circuit court, voting rights lawsuits are initially heard by two district judges and one circuit judge, and their ruling can only be appealed directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.
A lawsuit over the state’s 2021 redistricting — including its state legislative and education board seats — went to trial earlier in 2025 and remains pending before the same three-judge panel. The judges have indicated they may want to see how the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a major voting rights case before issuing their full ruling on Texas’ maps.