Politics US Supreme Court allows Texas new electoral districts
The US Supreme Court has approved a new electoral districting system favorable to the Republicans in the state of Texas, giving President Donald Trump's party an important victory. With its decision, the court in Washington overruled an injunction issued by a lower court.
05.12.2025, 06:53
SDA
This means that the redistricting decided in the summer in the Republican-ruled southern state will form the basis for the 2026 congressional elections. The redistricting could give the Republicans five additional seats in the election to the House of Representatives in November - and thus make it easier for Trump's party to defend its very narrow majority in the chamber.
The three liberal judges on the Supreme Court voted against the majority's decision. They argued that many citizens in Texas would now be divided into certain electoral districts based on their ethnicity for no good reason. This violates the constitution.
Fewer constituencies with Latinos or blacks in the majority
Human rights groups in Texas had also argued that the new voting districts were specifically tailored to have fewer constituencies in which Latinos or blacks, for example, make up a majority of voters. Members of both population groups are often more likely to support Democratic candidates.
In Washington, the Republicans have a majority in both chambers of Congress - the Senate and the House of Representatives. However, they only have a few more seats than the Democrats and therefore fear a change in the balance of power in the so-called midterms, especially with regard to the House of Representatives. In the Senate, where only around a third of the seats are up for grabs, a change of power seems less likely.
In gerrymandering in the USA, constituencies are drawn in such a way that one party pools many of its own votes and splinters those of the other party. This allows it to win more seats, even if it does not receive more votes overall. Both parties use this tactic to systematically gain advantages in elections, and the dispute over this approach has intensified under Trump's administration.
