AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Voting-rights advocates sued Tuesday to overturn a redistricting map drawn by Texas Republicans meant to favor the party in the 2026 midterm elections, saying it weakens the electoral influence of Black voters.
The NAACP and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed the lawsuit in Texas.
They accuse Texas legislative leaders of engaging in gerrymandering to prevent Black voters from electing candidates of their choice.
“The state of Texas is only 40 percent white, but white voters control over 73 percent of the state’s congressional seats,” Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP, said in a statement. “It’s quite obvious that Texas’s effort to redistrict mid-decade, before next year’s midterm elections, is racially motivated. The state’s intent here is to reduce the members of Congress who represent Black communities, and that, in and of itself, is unconstitutional.”
Since the Voting Rights Act was adopted, the state of Texas has been found to have discriminated against Black and/or Brown citizens after every cycle of redistricting, according to the NAACP.
Black residents for decades have overwhelmingly favored Democratic candidates.
Texas lawmakers approved the map Saturday, adding five new districts favoring Republicans. The move came after President Donald Trump requested it.
The effort by Trump and Texas’ Republican-majority Legislature prompted state Democrats to hold a two-week walkout and kicked off a wave of redistricting efforts across the country. California Gov. Gavin Newsom in response has approved a special election for a redrawn map to help Democrats win more seats.
Republican Sen. Phil King, the Texas measure’s sponsor, previously denied accusations alleging that the redrawn districts violate the Voting Rights Act by diluting voters’ influence based on race.
“I had two goals in mind: That all maps would be legal and would be better for Republican congressional candidates in Texas,” he said.
The U.S. Supreme Court in 2019 ruled that the Constitution does not prohibit partisan gerrymandering to increase a party’s clout, only gerrymandering that’s explicitly done by race.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has not yet signed the map into law, has predicted it will survive any court challenges. Abbott also has predicted other Republican-led states will make similar moves seeking new seats for the GOP in Congress.
The NAACP also on Tuesday urged all other states to act immediately by redistricting and passing what it called new, lawful and constitutional electoral maps.
“It may still seem far away, but the 2026 midterm elections will determine whether our democracy still holds on or whether the people surrender their power to a king,” Johnson said earlier this month.
