A federal court ruled Tuesday that Texas’s new congressional map, which created five additional seats for Republicans, is illegal on the basis of racial gerrymandering.

The US District Court for the Western District of Texas found that the Texas legislature’s intent in redrawing the congressional map was predominantly based on race. According to the court, the new map replaced only “coalition districts,” defined as “majority non-White districts in which no single racial group constituted a 50% majority.” The court concluded that the legislature’s attempt to put one racial group in the majority in certain districts constitutes unlawful racial gerrymandering under the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 and the Constitution. As a remedy, the court placed a preliminary injunction on the 2025

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