Texas Democrats handed a legal setback

Supreme Court gives a victory to GOP in redistricting battle

Four days after giving Texas Democrats something to cheer about over the long and complex redistricting battle, the U.S. Supreme Court went the other way and gave Texas Republicans a victory.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the Texas Democrats’ attempt to get the Court to review its claims that Republicans used partisan gerrymandering in 2013 to hurt Democrats at the ballot box.

That decision comes after Friday’s decision in which the court agreed to take up an appeal from organizations representing African-Americans and Latinos that accuse Texas Republicans of using racial gerrymandering to dilute minority representation. The oral arguments related to the racial gerrymandering claims is set for April.

On Tuesday, the Court sided with the state of Texas’ attorneys who had argued that Texas Democrats did not have jurisdiction to call for an appeal of the lower courts because a final ruling had not yet been issued in the case Democrats are trying to appeal.

But the U.S. Supreme Court is still looking at partisan gerrymandering cases from other states that could ultimately affect Texas. The Supreme Court already has agreed to look at allegations of partisan gerrymandering in the congressional redistricting maps of Democrats in Maryland and in the state redistricting maps of Republicans in Wisconsin.

Texas Democrats say they will watch those cases and rulings carefully to see how they could help them in their efforts to force Republicans to redraw maps in Texas.

“Today, the Supreme Court ruled that it does not presently have jurisdiction to hear a partisan gerrymander claim under the unique posture of this complex case.” Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said. “Nonetheless, we anticipate an upcoming opportunity to continue our pursuit of justice for Texas voters.”

Since Texas started redistricting after the 2010 Census, the effort has been under constant legal attack. In August, a lower court ruled that at least two congressional districts — the 27th and the 35th — violated the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act. Additionally the court found the state’s congressional plan in 2011 then redrawn in 2013 was intentionally discriminatory and called on the Legislature to hold a special session to redraw the maps. The court also ruled the redistricting map for the state House also violated the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act and needed to be redrawn.

But before any of that could happen, Texas appealed to the Supreme Court to temporarily block the redrawings and won. In late September the groups representing African-Americans and Latinos appealed, leading to the Supreme Court’s decision Friday to review the racial gerrymandering claims in the spring.

The outcome of the case is critical to the Texas and national political landscape because it helps determine how Texas is represented in Congress. If the Republican-led Legislature is forced to redraw district lines again, it could open the door for Democrats to gain seats in Congress from Texas.