A federal appeals court set up a likely U.S. Supreme Court challenge over a Republican redistricting map in Texas.

A three-judge panel threw out a newly drawn redistricting map for the 2026 election and ordered the state to use the districts passed by the state legislature in 2021, with a Dec. 8 deadline for candidates to file for the March elections, reported the Texas Tribune.

“The public perception of this case is that it’s about politics,” wrote U.S. Judge Jeffrey Brown, who was appointed by President Donald Trump. “To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 Map. But it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map.”

The decision marks a major blow for Republicans across the U.S. who pushed through mid-decade redistricting maps on Trump's orders to gain a perceived GOP advantage in next year's midterm elections.

The Republican-led legislature approved the new maps in August, but advocacy groups filed challenges that allege the new districts intentionally dilute the voting power of Black and Hispanic Texans.

"This is just the opening gambit in what promises to be a yearslong legal battle over Texas’ congressional map," the Tribune reported. "A lawsuit over the state’s 2021 redistricting — including its state legislative and education board seats — went to trial earlier this summer 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."