Photo: Stone RF
It looks like Democrats may have celebrated too early when it comes to blocking Texas’ new congressional maps. The district court ruling that halted the maps has now been temporarily stayed by the Supreme Court.
This case is following a similar pattern to Galveston County’s redistricting fight, which received the green light from both the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and SCOTUS after the county eliminated its majority-minority “coalition” districts in 2021.
Galveston County Judge Mark Henry highlighted the parallels between the two cases. “Judge Smith, who wrote the dissent in this case, is extremely familiar with the issue—he was deeply involved in our case—and I’m sure the Supreme Court has already read his dissent,” Henry said.
He went on to praise the State of Texas for its thorough work. “I don’t think the State of Texas did anything wrong,” he said. “The legislature deliberated this for weeks. This is certainly a well-put-together case.”
Henry also expressed hope that the Supreme Court will use this opportunity to finally settle the gerrymandering question once and for all. The issue has been debated for years, with the can repeatedly kicked down the road, yet simple political gerrymandering has long been accepted as legal.
He expects more states to jump into the redistricting fight once the Supreme Court issues a final ruling.