U.S. General Services Administration

A federal court in El Paso will hear arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit challenging Texas' mid-decade round of congressional redistricting . Civil rights groups are seeking to block the new map from taking effect before candidates have to file for the midterm elections.

Republican state lawmakers passed the map in August during a special session, under pressure from President Donald Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott, with the explicit aim of flipping five Democrat-held congressional districts into the Republican column. Attorneys for the state contend the map is a purely partisan gerrymander, designed to maximize Republican gains.

But voting rights attorney Chad Dunn, representing the plaintiffs, says the map is a racial gerrymander. The distinction is si

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