Federal Three-Judge Panel Finds Texas Mid-Decade Map Racially Gerrymandered -- Supreme Court Overturns and Allows Map for 2026 Midterms

A three-judge federal panel (including two Trump appointees) ruled 2-1 that Texas's 2025 mid-decade map was racially gerrymandered, finding "substantial evidence" that race was the predominant factor. Judge Jeff Brown (Trump appointee) wrote the 160-page majority opinion. Judge Jerry Smith dissented, calling it "the most blatant exercise of judicial activism I have ever witnessed." In December 2025, the Supreme Court allowed the map for 2026 primaries. On April 27, 2026, the Court overturned the ruling 6-3, clearing the map for the 2026 midterms and greenlighting the mid-decade gerrymandering wave nationwide.