AG Paxton Hails U.S. Supreme Court Decision Upholding Texas’ Redistricting Maps

When the Supreme Court put the lower court decisions on hold last September, it meant that no changes to Texas’ redistricting maps would be made ahead of the midterm elections…

Attorney General Ken Paxton today released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Texas’ House and congressional redistricting maps, except with respect to one Texas House District (HD 90):

“I’m grateful that the U.S. Supreme Court restored the rule of law to the redistricting process. The court rightly recognized that the Constitution protects the right of Texans to draw their own legislative districts, and rejected the misguided efforts by unelected federal judges to wrest control of Texas elections from Texas voters,” Attorney General Paxton said. “This is a huge win for the Constitution, Texas, and the democratic process. Once again, Texans have the power to govern themselves.”

Last year, a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court in San Antonio invalidated two of Texas’ 36 congressional districts (27 and 35) and multiple state House districts. Attorney General Paxton appealed the rulings to the high court, which heard oral arguments in the case on April 24.

When the Supreme Court put the lower court decisions on hold last September, it meant that no changes to Texas’ redistricting maps would be made ahead of the midterm elections.

Attorney General Paxton argued at the time that allowing maps to be redrawn would throw “the Texas election deadlines into chaos for the second time this decade.”