The NAACP joined an ongoing federal lawsuit on Tuesday against Texas over its newly approved congressional maps, alleging state lawmakers deliberately diluted the political power of Black voters ahead of next year’s elections.
The NAACP’s 141-page supplemental lawsuit accuses Texas lawmakers of racial gerrymandering by weakening Black voting power in cities like Houston, Dallas and Austin by “cracking” historically Black neighborhoods across multiple districts and “packing” others into a small number of seats, limiting their overall representation.
“It’s quite obvious that Texas’s effort to redistrict mid-decade, before next year’s midterm elections, is racially motivated,” said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP. “The state’s intent here is to reduce the members of Congress who represent Black communities, and that, in and of itself, is unconstitutional.”
The NAACP’s lawsuit joins the League of United Latin American Citizens’ long-running case, which alleged in 2021 that Texas maps intentionally discriminated against Latino voters. LULAC is now challenging the new maps as an alleged continuation of that pattern.
Texas lawmakers last redrew the state’s maps after the 2020 census, but civil rights groups say the latest plan — pushed through in a special legislative session last week — cuts into Black representation despite the state’s booming minority population.
Dozens of House Democrats fled the state earlier this month in an attempt to block the Republican-backed measure, which could give the GOP up to five additional congressional seats after the 2026 midterm election.
While the quorum break only delayed the plan, House Democrats returned to Texas after California lawmakers pledged to pass their own map to offset Republican gains in Texas — a move that was celebrated by the NAACP on Tuesday.
“We must counter Texas’ unconstitutional move and ensure that if all else fails, Black Americans still have a voice in Congress,” the group said in a statement.
