Texas gained two new U.S. House seats after the 2020 census, and lawmakers moved quickly. The 87th Legislature’s third special session adopted a congressional map on Oct. 19, 2021, with Governor Greg Abbott signing it into law on Oct. 25, 2021. Litigation followed immediately. LULAC v. Abbott was filed on Oct. 18, 2021, and soon other plaintiffs followed. A three-judge federal district panel consolidated the suits on Nov. 19, 2021, and the U.S. Department of Justice added its own §2 Voting Rights Act claim on Dec. 6, 2021.  Pre-trial skirmishes continue - most recently, the Fifth Circuit dismissed an interlocutory discovery appeal in May 2025, keeping the consolidated case on track for a late-2025 trial on the merits.

Although the 2021 map governs the 2022 and 2024 elections, Abbott placed congressional redistricting on the agenda at a special session that opened on July 21, 2025. On Aug 22, the legislature adopted HB 4 in a second special session, and Governor Abbott signed the map into law on Aug 29. Litigation against HB 4 ensued immediately, which included claims of racial discrimination and vote dilution. In November 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas issued a preliminary injunction against the map so that it would not be used in the 2026 midterm election, but on appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court granted Texas’s motion to stay that decision, allowing the map to be used in 2026 while litigation proceeds.

The state legislative lines followed a parallel, but more crowded, path. The Senate map cleared the Legislature on Oct. 15, 2021, and the House map on the 16th; both became law with the governor’s signature on Oct. 25, 2021. All federal challenges were consolidated against the maps on Nov. 19, 2021, and the panel soon denied a preliminary injunction aimed at Fort Worth’s Senate District 10 on Feb. 1, 2022, allowing the new districts to be used in that year’s primaries. Subsequent orders trimmed some claims but left the core Voting Rights Act allegations for trial alongside the congressional case. As of mid-2025, the 2021 House and Senate plans remain in force for the 2024 elections, with a consolidated trial expected later this year that will determine whether Texas must revisit its legislative maps before 2026.

Note: The Texas legislature and governor "re-enacted" the state Senate and House maps passed in 2021 to ensure compliance with a state law that required Texas "to apportion districts in the first regular session after the publishing of the results of the federal census." The 2021 maps were adopted in a special session shortly after the census results were received.

last updated: Jan 2026