The NAACP, along with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, initiated a lawsuit on Tuesday asserting that a recently approved congressional map in Texas breaches the Voting Rights Act.
The legal action claims that Texas designed their map with racial biases, effectively preventing Black voters from having the ability to choose their preferred representatives.
This month saw Texas Republicans passing a revised congressional map in the state Legislature, potentially securing them five additional House seats before the 2026 elections. Although Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) has yet to officially endorse the maps, it is anticipated he will do so shortly.
Critics from the Democratic party have condemned the Texas Republicans for enhancing a map already favoring the GOP, arguing it disrupts communities of shared interests and reflects a compliance with President Trump and the White House’s agenda for redistricting before the mid-decade mark.
“Texas is comprised of only about 40 percent white residents, yet white voters hold over 73 percent of the state’s congressional seats,” expressed Derrick Johnson, NAACP President and CEO, in a statement.
He further asserted, “It’s quite clear that Texas’s attempt to redistrict ahead of next year’s midterm elections is driven by racial motives. The objective here is to diminish the representation of Black communities in Congress, a move that is fundamentally unconstitutional.”
Damon T. Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, described the map as “intentionally harmful” and “discriminatory” in his own statement.
“Black and Brown voters in Texas deserve better. They are legally and constitutionally entitled to fair representation,” he said. “These maps do the opposite, and they must not stand.”
Republicans, however, have called Democrats hypocritical, noting that several of the states to which Texas Democrats fled during their quorum break were ones that have been gerrymandered.
They also point out that California Democrats’ push to put a new House map in front of voters this fall subverts the independent redistricting commission the state has in place to draw the maps once each decade. California Democrats say they are in favor of independent redistricting and see this as a temporary measure.
Several other Democratic-aligned and civil rights groups have also signaled they are ready to sue over the Texas House map as well.
