GOP wins: Supreme Court rules on Texas redistricting maps for 2026 midterms

In a huge win for Republicans that could help keep them in control of the House, the Supreme Court allowed Texas’ GOP-friendly redistricting maps to remain in place for the 2026 midterms.

The maps could grant Republicans up to five additional seats in the House of Representatives.

Thursday’s ruling, a 6-3 unsigned opinion, comes after a lower court recently tossed out the maps. Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott appealed that decision.

The Supreme Court decision was an ideological split, with the six conservative justices ruling in favor of pausing the ruling from a lower court, thereby allowing the maps to stand. Three liberal justices dissented.

The lower court had asserted that the redistricting posed constitutional issues based on race.

As 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 also 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 last month to redraw maps to give Democrats a further edge in the Golden State, an effort spearheaded by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. 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.

The 2026 midterms look to be particularly consequential, with Republicans only narrowly controlling the House. They also maintain a slim majority in the Senate.

[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]