• Redistricting

Gonzales v. Nelson

10.25.2021
  • Texas
  • Ongoing

Plaintiffs supported by the National Redistricting Foundation (NRF) initiated a legal challenge against the newly enacted congressional gerrymander in Texas in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, asking the court to strike it down on several grounds. The challenge was filed as a supplemental complaint in the ongoing lawsuit, LULAC v. Abbott. The NRF is directing litigation and providing financial support on behalf of the Gonzales plaintiff group in this case. On August 23, 2025, the Texas legislature enacted a mid-decade gerrymander at the behest of President Trump, whose Department of Justice encouraged the elimination of districts where Black and Latino voters had the opportunity to elect the candidates of their choice. The NRF-supported Gonzales plaintiffs immediately challenged that map, seeking a court order to halt the usage of the map because it intentionally discriminates against Black and Latino voters. Following a preliminary injunction hearing from October 1 to October 10, 2025, the district court panel concluded that the state’s 2025 map is a likely racial gerrymander. The district court enjoined the state from using that map for the 2026 elections and ordered it to use its 2021 map instead. Upon the state’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, that court ordered a stay of the panel’s injunction, allowing the likely racially discriminatory map to be used for the 2026 elections. The district court has yet to schedule a full trial on the merits regarding the NRF-supported Gonzales plaintiffs’ challenge to the 2025 map, while the appeal is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.