Redistricting in Texas was all over the news this summer. Many across the country heard about the state's unconventional, mid-decade plan to redraw its congressional map at the behest of President Donald Trump.
Anyone who hadn't already known about the GOP-backed redistricting push likely found out once Texas House Democrats broke quorum in early August. The legislators fled the statehouse with hopes of stalling passage of the map, which was specifically drawn to help Republicans gain as many as five additional seats in the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas in 2026.
But after the newly drawn map passed and signed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, much of that attention died down.
The story, though, doesn't end there: A lawsuit seeking to block the new map pushed it in front of a panel of federal judges in El Paso.
The three judges, who have been hearing arguments in the case since last Wednesday, will ultimately decide if Texas' new district lines pass constitutional muster — and if they can be used for the 2026 midterm elections.
In all, just a few dozen people have been in the courtroom for the extremely consequential case, which could ultimately determine which party holds control of the U.S. House after next year's election.
But besides the judges, lawyers and reporters, there's also one El Pasoan who has been showing up in court each day: Nacar Devine.
"I had the time and I just felt it was important," she told the Texas Newsroom last week.
She was one of those news consumers who watched the legislative battle over the map play out this summer. And with the pivotal legal case playing out in her backyard, she decided to start showing up to court.
Her main motivation is to "learn how redistricting affects my life and the life of all Texans."
"At this point…I feel like I'm taking an accelerated course in redistricting in Texas," Devine said.
While she had only heard from the plaintiffs' witnesses at the time of her interview, she said she could see their argument — mainly, that the districts in Texas' new congressional map were the result of racial gerrymandering.
"It seems that there is a clear kind of plot to draw in and draw out certain groups of people," Devine said.
Overall though, she said she keeps showing up to learn. The lifelong Texan said this was her first time being a spectator for something like this.
"I'm just here to see the machinations of this, you know, supposed plan to redistrict and why it's even being done in the first place," she said.
After spending hours upon hours in the courtroom, Devine said she began to see how strategic politics can be.
"Politics has always, kind of, been associated with games. And, you know, like a battle of wits and things like that," Devine said. "But these things have implications. We as taxpayers, you know, are paying for these lawsuits to happen — and so I want to know more now than ever, I think."
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