Redistricting in Texas#Federal court intervention (1970s)

{{See also|United States congressional apportionment}}Reapportionment of representatives between the states every ten years based on new census figures is required by Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution and Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment.{{cite web |title=The Constitution of the United States |url=https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript |accessdate=January 10, 2021 |website=National Archives and Records Administration |date=November 4, 2015 |archive-date=January 31, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131000136/https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript |url-status=live }} The Constitution, Supreme Court jurisprudence, and federal law allow significant latitude to the individual states to draw their congressional and legislative districts as they see fit, as long as each district contains roughly equivalent numbers of people and provides for minority representation pursuant to the Voting Rights Act.

Article III of the Constitution of Texas mandates that redistricting must occur in the first legislative session following the publication of a new enumeration by the United States census.{{cite web |title=Article III, Section 28, Texas Constitution |url=https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/SDocs/THETEXASCONSTITUTION.pdf |accessdate=March 15, 2023 |website=Texas Legislature |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316025443/https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/SDocs/THETEXASCONSTITUTION.pdf |url-status=live }} The House of Representatives must have 150 members and the Senate must have 31 members.{{Cite web |title=Article III, Section 2, Texas Constitution |url=https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/SDocs/THETEXASCONSTITUTION.pdf |access-date=March 15, 2023 |website=Texas Legislature |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316025443/https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/SDocs/THETEXASCONSTITUTION.pdf |url-status=live }} Additionally, districts for the state House of Representatives must follow the "county line rule". Counties are allocated districts based on their population. Counties with sufficient population for exactly one district must be fully contained within that district. Counties with sufficient population for two or more districts must be divided into that number of districts. Should a county have sufficient population for one or more district plus a fraction of another, one district from another county may extend into it to represent the remaining population.{{Cite web |title=Article III, Section 26, Texas Constitution |url=https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/SDocs/THETEXASCONSTITUTION.pdf |access-date=March 15, 2023 |website=Texas Legislature |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316025443/https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/SDocs/THETEXASCONSTITUTION.pdf |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Ura |first=Alexa |date=2021-11-03 |title=Texas' new House map challenged in state court, expanding redistricting fight |url=https://www.texastribune.org/2021/11/03/texas-redistricting-state-court/ |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=The Texas Tribune |language=en |archive-date=February 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220204233157/https://www.texastribune.org/2021/11/03/texas-redistricting-state-court/ |url-status=live }}

The redistricting process begins with each decennial census, when the U.S. government provides detailed census tract data to the states, usually by March 1 of the first year of the decade. The Texas Legislative Council provides this census data to legislators, who then draw district boundaries in a computer program using this information. Legislators then pass these boundaries into law as they would any other bill. Redistricting bills for each state legislative chamber typically originate in their respective chambers. If state legislative boundaries are not enacted by the legislature during the regular session, the Legislative Redistricting Board, consisting of the lieutenant governor, speaker of the House, attorney general, comptroller, and land commissioner, will pass its own plan, not subject to the governor's veto.{{Cite web |last=Graves |first=Patrick |date=January 2020 |title=Redistricting 101 |url=https://comptroller.texas.gov/economy/fiscal-notes/2020/jan/redistricting.php |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=comptroller.texas.gov |language=en |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316032012/https://comptroller.texas.gov/economy/fiscal-notes/2020/jan/redistricting.php |url-status=dead}}

The legislature may alter the maps it passes later in the decade through mid-decade redistricting. This may occur in response to judicial action against the legislature's previously passed maps{{Cite web |last=Ura |first=Jim Malewitz and Alexa |date=2017-07-13 |title=In court, redistricting battle puts sharper focus on 2013 Legislature |url=https://www.texastribune.org/2017/07/12/court-redistricting-battle-puts-sharper-focus-2013-legislature/ |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=The Texas Tribune |language=en |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316032012/https://www.texastribune.org/2017/07/12/court-redistricting-battle-puts-sharper-focus-2013-legislature/ |url-status=live }} or to gain political advantage through gerrymandering, as was the case in 2003 after Republicans took full control of the Texas Legislature.{{Cite news |last=Hockstader |first=Lee |date=2003-05-17 |title=A Texas-Sized Brawl Over Redistricting |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/05/17/a-texas-sized-brawl-over-redistricting/42913fe5-7b92-464b-b4de-ed8dc8261af3/ |access-date=2023-03-16 |issn=0190-8286}}{{cite book |last=Bickerstaff |first=Steve |title=Lines in the Sand: Congressional Redistricting in Texas and the Downfall of Tom Delay |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-292-71474-8 |location=Austin |page= |language=en}}{{page?|date=March 2025}}

Texas's original state legislative districts were enacted by its 1845 Constitution.{{Cite web |title=Article III, Sections 30 & 32, 1845 Texas Constitution |url=https://bigthreeauto.procon.org/sourcefiles/1845_TX_Constitution.pdf |website=Texas Legislature |access-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316035915/https://bigthreeauto.procon.org/sourcefiles/1845_TX_Constitution.pdf |url-status=live }} Immediately after convening for the first time, the Texas Legislature enacted its first set of congressional districts. The state was apportioned two districts until its secession in 1861. During this time period, the legislature also regularly revised its House and Senate districts. After its secession, the state sent six representatives to the Confederate States Congress. During Reconstruction, the 1869 Texas Constitution apportioned the state four seats in the United States House of Representatives. The state only had one set of legislative districts, with each district electing one senator and two to four representatives.{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Article III, Section XXXIX, 1869 Texas Constitution |url=https://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/constitutions/texas-1869/article-3-legislative-department |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=tarlton.law.utexas.edu |language=en |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316035916/https://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/constitutions/texas-1869/article-3-legislative-department |url-status=live }} Texas's current redistricting system was established by its 1876 Constitution.{{Cite book |last=Bickerstaff |first=Steve |title=Gerrymandering Texas |publisher=Texas Tech University Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-68283-073-4 |editor-last=Heath |editor-first=C. Robert |location=Lubbock |pages=45–59}}

File:1901 Colorado County Redistricting.svg (outlined in green) before and after the 1901 redistricting. The election results come from the 1896 presidential election.]]

The 1876 Constitution established the Texas Senate with 31 members. The Texas House of Representatives was given 93 members, but this number increased over the years until it reached its constitutional maximum of 150 in the 1920s. House districts at the time included single-member, multi-member, and floterial districts.Bickerstaff, Heath 2020, pp. 57–59 The creation of new state House seats allowed for legislators to account for population growth in certain parts of the state while not endangering incumbents by altering districts elsewhere.Bickerstaff, Heath 2020, pp. 63–65 Senate districts were single-member and independent of House districts, unlike under the 1869 Constitution.{{Cite book |title=Debates in the Texas Constitutional Convention of 1875 |publisher=University of Texas at Austin |year=1930 |editor-last=McKay |editor-first=Seth Shepard |location=Austin |pages=97–99 |language=en}} The Texas Constitution additionally limited counties to a maximum of one senator, which legislators used to maintain the status quo and protect incumbents for as long as they could. This strategy allowed for the passage of redistricting legislation at the beginning of every decade until the 1910s.

Following the end of Reconstruction, Texas's government was controlled entirely by the Democratic Party, giving them full control over the state's redistricting process. The legislature frequently failed to pass congressional redistricting legislation during the first session after a census, allowing the new seats to be elected at-large. This ensured that the new congressmen would always be chosen by the state's overwhelmingly White electorate, and it allowed the legislature to draw districts around the new incumbents for the next election cycle.Bickerstaff, Heath 2020, p. 66

Following the 1880 census, the legislature adopted a redistricting plan giving the state 11 congressional districts. The state gained two seats following the 1890 census, but the legislature initially failed to draw new districts in 1891, raising the possibility of the new seats being elected at-large.{{Cite news |date=May 20, 1891 |title=Article 1 – No Title |page=4 |work=Detroit Free Press |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/562205258 |access-date=April 18, 2023 |archive-date=April 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423042427/https://www.proquest.com/docview/562205258/1964D7103A2A4D01PQ/1 |id={{ProQuest|562205258}} |url-status=live }} The legislature later passed a map with 13 districts in 1892.{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://redistricting.capitol.texas.gov/history |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=redistricting.capitol.texas.gov |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316035913/https://redistricting.capitol.texas.gov/history |url-status=live }} Texas gained an additional three seats after the 1900 census. Controversy arose during the 1901 redistricting over the placement of then heavily African American Colorado County. Democratic legislators feared that, if left in the 10th district, the county's vote could overwhelm the rest of its district and elect a Republican to Congress.{{Cite news |date=August 22, 1901 |title=No Changes Made: The Authors of the Senate Congressional Redistricting Bill Oppose All Amendments |page=3 |work=The Dallas Morning News}}{{Cite news |date=August 25, 1901 |title=Grave Errors in Redistricting |page=4 |work=Austin Daily Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1612858628 |access-date=April 18, 2023|id={{ProQuest|1612858628}} }} The bill that eventually passed moved Colorado County to the 9th district,{{Cite news |date=September 3, 1901 |title=AGREED ON A BILL: Conference Committee Fashions Congressional Districts From Two Measures Presented |page=3 |work=The Dallas Morning News}} and neither district elected a Republican to Congress in the following decade. The legislature later revised its 1901 redistricting plan in 1909.

File:Oscar Branch Colquitt.jpg

Texas gained an additional two seats in Congress after the 1910 census. Legislators from West Texas sought redistricting to give greater representation to the growing region.{{Cite news |date=February 12, 1911 |title=Want New Districts: Western Members Will Circulate Petition |page=5 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1646174479 |access-date=April 17, 2023 |archive-date=April 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418030310/https://www.proquest.com/docview/1646174479/6CFEA40E374040B3PQ/3 |id={{ProQuest|1646174479}} |url-status=live }} Prohibitionist legislators similarly sought redistricting to increase their power in the state legislature. They held the majority of both chambers' redistricting committees, but governor Oscar Branch Colquitt threatened to veto any map that he saw as gerrymandered for either cause.{{Cite news |last=Lochridge |first=Lloyd P. |date=February 1, 1911 |title=Pros Are Ahead: Bare Majority Given Them on Redistricting |page=1 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1621106933 |access-date=April 17, 2023 |archive-date=April 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418030310/https://www.proquest.com/docview/1621106933/6CFEA40E374040B3PQ/9 |id={{ProQuest|1621106933}} |url-status=live }} During the regular session, representative Oscar Callaway spoke his opposition to the Senate's proposed congressional district map, as it drew him, as well as several other representatives, into districts with other incumbents.{{Cite news |last=Lochridge |first=Lloyd P. |date=February 16, 1911 |title=Pros at Outs: Redistricting Brings Dissension Into Ranks |page=1 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1621108550 |access-date=April 17, 2023 |via=ProQuest |archive-date=April 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418030312/https://www.proquest.com/docview/1621108550/6CFEA40E374040B3PQ/4 |id={{ProQuest|1621108550}} |url-status=live }} Despite the prohibitionists' apparent advantage, divisions within their caucus allowed the anti-prohibitionists to delay redistricting until a summer special session.{{Cite news |date=March 9, 1911 |title=Antis of Senate Score on the Pros |page=3 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1639044870 |access-date=April 17, 2023 |archive-date=April 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418030310/https://www.proquest.com/docview/1639044870/241E81AC2634476EPQ/16 |id={{ProQuest|1639044870}} |url-status=live }}

Governor Colquitt made redistricting one of his top priorities for the August special session.{{Cite news |date=August 10, 1911 |title=Colquitt Takes Firm Stand; Finances First: Refuses to Sign Concurrent Resolutions Adopted in Absence of Recommendation |pages=1–2 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1612807875 |access-date=April 17, 2023 |archive-date=April 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230422214754/https://www.proquest.com/docview/1612807875/6CFEA40E374040B3PQ/10 |id={{ProQuest|1612807875}} |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Colquitt |first=Oscar Branch |date=August 17, 1911 |title=More Messages to Legislature: Gov. Colquitt Submits Five New Subjects of Legislation – Congressional Redistricting Is Among Them |pages=3–4 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1621125951 |access-date=April 17, 2023 |archive-date=April 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418041731/https://www.proquest.com/docview/1621125951/9CD76AD4A76448CAPQ/2 |id={{ProQuest|1621125951}} |url-status=live }} Prohibitionist senators filibustered the passage of the congressional redistricting bill, and after exhausting the filibuster, they left the chamber to deprive it of a quorum. The building was then locked down until enough Senators were forcibly returned to the chamber to allow the bill to advance.{{Cite news |date=August 24, 1911 |title=Their Filibuster Fails: Pros Fail to Prevent Passage of Redistricting Bill |page=2 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1621129272 |access-date=April 17, 2023|archive-date=April 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418041732/https://www.proquest.com/docview/1621129272/6CFEA40E374040B3PQ/20 |id={{ProQuest|1621129272}} |url-status=live }} Because bills required readings on multiple separate legislative days, the prohibitionist Senators again fled the chamber to prevent final passage, although they temporarily returned for an unrelated vote.{{Cite news |date=August 28, 1911 |title=W. H. Gray is Sentenced by the Senate: Missing Senators Return Just in Time to Prevent His Release by Antis |page=1 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1621127974 |access-date=April 17, 2023 |archive-date=April 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418041734/https://www.proquest.com/docview/1621127974/665B81FA0AA84D8DPQ/4 |id={{ProQuest|1621127974}} |url-status=live }} With the congressional redistricting bill appearing to head towards defeat, the anti-prohibitionist senators and three prohibitionist senators pushed governor Colquitt to call another special session.{{Cite news |date=August 28, 1911 |title=Another Special Session Scate On: Seventeen Senators Petition Governor to Call Legislature Again |pages=1–2 |work=The Dallas Morning News}}

Despite failing to redistrict the state's congressional districts, the legislature successfully passed bills to redistrict the state House and Senate.{{Cite news |date=August 29, 1911 |title=New Senate Probable: Governor May Approve Districting Measure, Which May Cause Election of Entire Upper House |page=1 |work=The Dallas Morning News}}{{Cite news |date=August 29, 1911 |title=Districts Provided for Representatives: Both Houses Adopt Report of Committee |page=2 |work=The Dallas Morning News}} At the very end of the session, the Senate had overcome the prohibitionist filibuster to pass a congressional redistricting bill, but the effort stalled in the conference committee.{{Cite news |date=August 29, 1911 |title=Turbulent Scenes Enacted in Senate: Congressional Redistricting Bill Passes After Determined Filibuster Fails |page=2 |work=The Dallas Morning News}}{{Cite news |date=August 29, 1911 |title=Conference Breaks Up: Outlook for Congressional Districts Doubtful–McNealus Still Ill and Unable to Attend |page=1 |work=The Dallas Morning News}} Governor Colquitt signed the new state House map, but he vetoed the state Senate map, calling it "monstrously unjust".{{Cite news |date=August 30, 1911 |title=Vetos Senatorial Disticts Measure: Governor Says it is Inexcusable and Indefensible Gerrymander |page=2 |work=The Dallas Morning News}} Colquitt refused to call another special session after the congressional redistricting bill died. Because of this, the state did not receive new districts, instead electing its two new congressman through at-large districts.{{Cite news |date=August 30, 1911 |title=Districts Bill Fails: Efforts to Have Governor Call Another Session in Vain–Comment on Appropriation Vetoes |pages=1–2 |work=The Dallas Morning News}} The legislature failed to draw new congressional district boundaries until 1917.{{Cite news |date=June 6, 1931 |title=Failure of Redistricting Bill Improved Prospect of Three Texas Congressmen-at-Large |page=6 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1611199545 |access-date=April 18, 2023 |id={{ProQuest|1611199545}}}} These new districts in the 1918 elections led to the defeat of then at-large congressman A. Jeff McLemore, who had drawn the ire of his own party for his opposition to World War I.{{Cite book |last=Keith |first=Jeanette |title=Rich Man's War, Poor Man's Fight: Race, Class and Power in the Rural South during World War I |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-8078-5562-1 |location=Chapel Hill|page=169 |language=en}}

Congress failed to pass reapportionment legislation after the 1920 census, leaving states with the same number of congressional districts as they had been apportioned under the 1910 census. It was only after the passage of the Reapportionment Act of 1929 that states were reapportioned congressional districts after the 1930 census.{{Cite journal |last1=Napolio |first1=Nicholas G. |last2=Jenkins |first2=Jeffery A. |date=December 22, 2022 |title=Conflict over Congressional Reapportionment: The Deadlock of the 1920s |url= |journal=Journal of Political History |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=91–117 |doi=10.1017/S0898030622000355 |s2cid=254927441 |via=Cambridge University Press|doi-access=free }} Texas gained three seats in the House of Representatives as a result, but it failed to pass redistricting legislation in 1931, despite the calling of several special sessions.{{Cite news |date=August 13, 1931 |title=Redistricting Bill Is Defeated Again |page=10 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1615606724 |access-date=April 18, 2023 |archive-date=April 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419012435/https://www.proquest.com/docview/1615606724/8D3BE7F3032E4330PQ/17 |id={{ProQuest|1615606724}} |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=October 3, 1931 |title=Last Chance of Redistricting Killed |page=1 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1615613713 |access-date=April 18, 2023 |archive-date=April 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419012434/https://www.proquest.com/docview/1615613713/8D3BE7F3032E4330PQ/6 |id={{ProQuest|1615613713}} |url-status=live }} As such, the new congressmen were elected at-large in the 1932 elections. Two of the three elected congressmen lived in Dallas, giving the city three congressmen in total,{{Efn|The third was Hatton W. Sumners of the 5th district, which was based in Dallas County.}} vastly disproportionate to the rest of the state.{{Cite news |last=Brooks |first=Raymond |date=May 3, 1933 |title=Texas Topics |page=4 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1610373786 |access-date=May 2, 2023 |id={{ProQuest|1610373786}} }} The legislature attempted to redistrict the state during its 1933 session, but it faced considerable difficulties.{{Cite news |last=Midkiff |first=Morris |date=February 7, 1933 |title=State is Puzzle in Redistricting |page=8 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1610365140 |access-date=May 2, 2023 |archive-date=May 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230506035336/https://www.proquest.com/docview/1610365140/D466E2E0C0C64A52PQ/6 |id={{ProQuest|1610365140}} |url-status=live }} The strongest disagreements came over attempts to dismantle the 7th district, which was represented by Clay Stone Briggs. These disagreements vanished, however, when Briggs died suddenly in April 1933. With the district now vacant, the legislature overwhelmingly approved the redistricting plan, including the dismantling of Briggs' old district.{{Cite news |date=May 2, 1933 |title=Agreement on Redistricting Reached |page=1 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1615581286 |access-date=May 2, 2023 |id={{ProQuest|1615581286}} }}{{Cite news |date=May 4, 1933 |title=Redistricting Bill Adopted by Senate After Objections: Measure Was Written to Please Three Aspirants In Charge |page=3 |work=The Dallas Morning News}} The new map did not place any non-at-large congressman in the same district as another, and it left an open seat in East Texas for at-large congressman George B. Terrell to run in.{{Efn|Terrell would not run in this district in 1934, however, as he had suffered a stroke earlier that year.{{cite web |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/terrell-george-butler |title=Biography, George Butler Terrell (1862–1947) |last=Miller |first=Thomas Lloyd |date=August 1, 1995 |website=TSHA Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |location=Austin |access-date=May 16, 2021 |archive-date=May 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516165414/https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/terrell-george-butler |url-status=live }}}} The map also gave Harris, Dallas, and Bexar counties individual congressmen, the first time any congressional district in Texas had been made up of only one county.{{Cite news |last=Thornton |first=William M. |date=May 3, 1933 |title=Redistricting Bill for Congress Gets Committee Favor |page=3 |work=The Dallas Morning News}}

After 1933, Texas did not redraw its congressional districts until 1957. The state had gained one seat in the U.S. House after the 1950 census, but the legislature failed to pass a redistricting plan after a seventeen-hour filibuster by senator Searcy Bracewell. Bracewell had advocated for the new 22nd district to be added to Harris County due to its large population, but the plan the state Senate had agreed upon gave the district to South Texas instead. Due to the bill's defeat, the seat was added as an at-large district instead.{{Cite news |date=May 30, 1951 |title=Redistricting Again Lifted Into Spotlight |page=1 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1559538139 |access-date=May 2, 2023 |archive-date=May 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502212645/https://www.proquest.com/docview/1559538139/FA3BBDEE41CC4EA5PQ/4 |id={{ProQuest|1559538139}} |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=June 7, 1951 |title=Redistricting Bill Killed By Bracewell Filibuster: Texas Due To Acquire Congressman-at-Large |page=A1 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1559539676 |access-date=May 2, 2023 |archive-date=May 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230505082712/https://www.proquest.com/docview/1559539676/FA3BBDEE41CC4EA5PQ/2 |id={{ProQuest|1559539676}} |url-status=live }} The lack of redistricting drew the ire of many, especially Republicans.{{Cite news |date=June 18, 1956 |title=Redistricting Fight Pushed By GOP Aide |page=1 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1563255648 |access-date=April 17, 2023 |archive-date=April 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230422142555/https://www.proquest.com/docview/1563255648/A6F78D1556B84FDFPQ/4 |id={{ProQuest|1563255648}} |url-status=live }} No county in the state had ever been a part of more than one congressional district, leading to large disparities between the populations of rural and urban districts. These disparities, and others like them across the country, were criticized by then-president Harry S. Truman as unrepresentative in 1951, and he called on Congress to pass a law tightening the standards for population equity in congressional districts.{{Cite news |date=January 11, 1951 |title=House Group Plans Redistricting Check |page=23 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/01/11/archives/house-group-plans-redistricting-check.html |access-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316055557/https://www.nytimes.com/1951/01/11/archives/house-group-plans-redistricting-check.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Trussell |first=C. P. |date=January 10, 1951 |title=President Urges Congress Tighten Redistricting Law; He Asks It to Set Standards for States and Oversee Their Actions on Complying |language=en-US |pages=1, 22 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/01/10/archives/president-urges-congress-tighten-redistricting-law-he-asks-it-to.html |access-date=May 2, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502211141/https://www.nytimes.com/1951/01/10/archives/president-urges-congress-tighten-redistricting-law-he-asks-it-to.html |url-status=live }}

By 1957, the 8th district, encompassing all of Harris County, was the largest congressional district in the country by population, with an estimated 1.2 million people living in it.{{Cite journal |date=October 18, 1957 |title=Redistricting in 3 states Alters Balance of Power |journal=Congressional Quarterly Weekly Reports |volume=15 |page=1191 |issn=0010-5910}} The legislature finally created the 22nd district, made up of the southern half of Harris County, abolishing the state's at-large district.{{Cite web |date=May 23, 1957 |title=House Bill 229, 55th Legislature |url=https://lrl.texas.gov/scanned/sessionLaws/55-0/HB_229_CH_286.pdf |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=lrl.texas.gov |archive-date=July 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705203829/https://lrl.texas.gov/scanned/sessionLaws/55-0/HB_229_CH_286.pdf |url-status=live }} Efforts to similarly split Dallas County into multiple districts failed.{{Cite news |date=April 11, 1957 |title=Redistrict Bill Given First Okay |page=A1 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1613458526 |access-date=April 17, 2023|id={{ProQuest|1613458526}} }} Up to this point, it had been common practice for the legislature to not split counties when drawing congressional districts.{{Cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=Robert E. |title=Congressional Redistricting |last2=Smith |first2=Preston |date=December 1964 |publisher=Texas Legislative Council |pages=17–19}} The new 22nd district was more conservative than the old 8th district, giving Republicans a chance to pick up the seat in the 1958 elections. Republicans also saw the consolidation of the 12th district into Tarrant County as a chance for them to win that district as well.{{Efn|Representative Jim Wright, who lived in Parker County, moved to Tarrant County to continue running in the 12th district.}} The legislature later failed to redistrict in 1961, reviving the state's at-large congressional district.{{Cite news |date=July 18, 1961 |title=Redistricting Apathy May Mean 84 House Seats at Large On '62 Ballot |page=4 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1527777089 |access-date=May 2, 2023 |id={{ProQuest|1527777089}} }}

The legislature did not enact reapportionment bills for the state House or state Senate after the 1930 or 1940 census.{{Cite news |last=McClain |first=Robert M. Jr. |date=February 6, 1951 |title=Matter of Redistricting Held Highly Significant |page=13 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1559516914 |access-date=May 2, 2023 |id={{ProQuest|1559516914}} }} In 1948, voters passed a constitutional amendment to create the Legislative Redistricting Board in the event that legislative redistricting failed following a census.{{Cite book |last=Texas State Historical Association |url=https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117167/m1/52/ |title=Texas Almanac, 1949-1950 |publisher=The Dallas Morning News |year=1950 |location=Dallas |pages=52, 476 |language=en |access-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316043542/https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117167/m1/52/ |url-status=live }} Following this, the legislature successfully enacted redistricting plans after the 1950 and 1960 census.{{Cite news |date=March 5, 1951 |title=Senate Redistricting Bill Passes: Measure Sent Shivers; Anti-Crime Bill Speeded |page=1 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1559520022 |access-date=May 2, 2023 |archive-date=May 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230506032130/https://www.proquest.com/docview/1559520022/FA3BBDEE41CC4EA5PQ/3 |id={{ProQuest|1559520022}} |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=March 6, 1951 |title=House Completes Redistricting Slate: Governor Receives Final Act |page=1 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1559519599 |access-date=May 2, 2023 |archive-date=May 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502212647/https://www.proquest.com/docview/1559519599/FA3BBDEE41CC4EA5PQ/14 |id={{ProQuest|1559519599}} |url-status=live }} While debating state Senate redistricting bills in both 1951 and 1961, Senator Jep Fuller of Jefferson County filibustered the maps, objecting to the disproportionate distribution of voters among the districts. His own district in 1961 had double the population of the least populous district, and Senator Robert Baker, who supported him, represented Harris County with nine times the population of the least populous district. Both times, Fuller's filibuster failed.{{Cite news |last=Brooks |first=Raymond |date=May 18, 1961 |title=Filibuster Ends: Fuller Again Redistricting Loser |page=A3 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1527763194 |access-date=May 2, 2023 |id={{ProQuest|1527763194}} }} Attempts to get the Texas Supreme Court to overturn the maps also failed, as the Texas Constitution explicitly limited the number of state senators and representatives that urban counties could have.{{Cite news |date=November 8, 1961 |title=Equitable Redistrict Try Failure |page=A5 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1527812988 |access-date=May 2, 2023 |archive-date=May 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230503001500/https://www.proquest.com/docview/1527812988/8CC924351DB445B8PQ/20 |id={{ProQuest|1527812988}} |url-status=live }}

File:1960 Texas congressional district populations.svg |year=1961 |location=Dallas |pages=374–75 |language=en}}{{legend|#033958|939,845}}{{legend|#045b8c|618,352–682,481}}{{legend|#0470b1|511,982–567,801}}{{legend|#3691c1|418,132–494,413}}{{legend|#74a9cf|319,728–360,562}}{{legend|#a6bcda|213,374–292,663}}]]

On March 26, 1962, the Supreme Court of the United States held in Baker v. Carr that redistricting qualifies as a justiciable question under the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, thus enabling federal courts to hear Fourteenth Amendment-based redistricting cases. In 1963, George H. W. Bush, as the head of the Harris County Republican Party, sued the state in Bush v. Martin. He argued that Texas's congressional districts violated the "one man, one vote" principle, which states that legislative districts should be apportioned equal population, and the courts ordered them to be redrawn.{{Cite web |title=Bush v. Martin, 251 F. Supp. 484 (S.D. Tex. 1966) |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/251/484/2249416/ |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=Justia Law |language=en |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316184100/https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/251/484/2249416/ |url-status=live }} For example, by 1962, the 5th congressional district, encompassing all of Dallas County, had become the most populous congressional district in the country. It had over five times the population of the country's least populated congressional district at the time.{{Cite news |date=August 7, 1962 |title=Texas Congress District Now Tops in Population |page=31 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/115654589 |access-date=March 16, 2023 |id={{ProQuest|115654589}}}} Democratic governor John Connally refused to comply with the Houston court's order, and the state appealed to the Supreme Court.{{Cite news |date=October 23, 1963 |title=Texas Fights Districting |page=9 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/116355634 |access-date=March 16, 2023 |id={{ProQuest|116355634}} |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316223843/https://www.proquest.com/docview/116355634 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=February 18, 1964 |title=Texas Suit Is Pending |page=31 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/115678159 |access-date=March 16, 2023 |id={{ProQuest|115678159}} |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316185605/https://www.proquest.com/docview/115678159 |url-status=live }} Texas lost its appeal, and the Court ordered the legislature to redraw its congressional districts. A lower trial court had previously ordered all of Texas's congressional seats to be filled at-large for the 1964 elections, but the Supreme Court allowed the state to ask for relief from this order.{{Cite news |last=Lewis |first=Anthony |date=March 3, 1964 |title=Court Says Texas Must Redistrict : But Justices Hint State May Wait Until After Election |page=1 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/115566505 |access-date=March 16, 2023|id={{ProQuest|115566505}} }}{{Cite news |date=March 28, 1964 |title=Texas Redistricting Scored |page=8 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/115609905 |access-date=March 16, 2023 |id={{ProQuest|115609905}} |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316222718/https://www.proquest.com/docview/115609905 |url-status=live }} The lower court granted this request given Texas's upcoming primary elections, allowing the elections to be held under the old lines.{{Cite book |last=Keith |first=Gary A. |title=Rotten Boroughs, Political Thickets, and Legislative Donnybrooks: Redistricting in Texas |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-292-74540-7 |edition=1st |location=Austin |page=12 |language=en }}

The Houston court gave the legislature the same threat of at-large elections in 1966 should it fail to pass constitutional maps beforehand. The legislature instructed the Texas Legislative Council to study redistricting to comply with court orders. The council created two possible maps, each providing the urban counties more equitable apportionment.Johnson, Smith 1964, pp. 1–22 The legislature modified these plans, especially the Harris County districts, enacting a map supported by State Representative Bob Eckhardt and George Bush which created districts for both men to run in.Keith 2013, 13–17 Additionally, the new maps split Midland and Ector Counties into separate districts as an apparent response to Republican Ed Foreman's victory in the 16th district in the 1962 elections. His victory had relied on the heavy Republican lean of both counties.Bickerstaff, Heath 2020, pp. 79–81 The Texas Legislature enacted new congressional districts in May 1965.{{Cite news |date=May 31, 1965 |title=Redistricting Bill Approved in Texas |page=6 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/116863832 |access-date=March 16, 2023 |id={{ProQuest|116863832}} |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316193053/https://www.proquest.com/docview/116863832 |url-status=live }} These districts were ruled constitutional, but the legislature revised a few districts in 1967 because the court had forced the plan to only be in effect for the 1966 elections.{{Cite news |date=June 12, 1967 |title=Redistricting Elections Due |page=4 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1515823657 |access-date=May 12, 2023 |id={{ProQuest|1515823657}} }}Bickerstaff, Heath 2020, pp. 78–79

File:Rep. Barbara Jordan - Restoration.jpg

In 1964, the Supreme Court case Reynolds v. Sims applied the "one man, one vote" principle to state legislative districts.{{Cite web |title=Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 (1964) |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/377/533/ |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=Justia Law |language=en |archive-date=May 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501124358/https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/377/533/ |url-status=live }} Governor Connally and the legislature opposed this, however, and supported the idea of passing a constitutional amendment to overturn Reynolds.Keith 2013, pp. 11–12 Later, in 1965, a U.S. District Court ruled in Kilgarlin v. Martin that floterial districts, districts that overlap other districts, were unconstitutional and that the county-based apportionment of Senate districts created unconstitutional population disparities. For example, Harris County contained one state Senate district when its population should have given it four.{{Cite web |title=Kilgarlin v. Martin, 252 F. Supp. 404 (S.D. Tex. 1966) |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/252/404/1410443/ |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=Justia Law |language=en |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316192716/https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/252/404/1410443/ |url-status=live }} The at-large nature of the district and Texas's runoff system meant that, despite Houston's large minority population, minorities would not be elected to the legislature from the district as Whites still made up a majority of its population. After the legislature enacted new districts in 1965 to comply with the ruling, Harris County gained three state senators and eleven state representatives. The new 11th Senate district, with an African American population of 48%, elected Barbara Jordan to the Texas Senate. She was the first African American senator since Reconstruction, and the first African American woman ever elected to the state Senate.{{Cite journal |last=Curten |first=Mary Ellen |date=October 2004 |title=Reaching for Power: Barbara C. Jordan and Liberals in the Texas Legislature, 1966–1972 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30242206 |journal=The Southwestern Historical Quarterly |volume=108 |issue=2 |pages=211–15 |jstor=30242206 |access-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-date=February 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230221180820/https://www.jstor.org/stable/30242206 |url-status=live }} The Supreme Court had allowed the state House's map, including its floterial districts, to be used for the 1966 elections, but it fully struck them down in 1967 due to its egregious population inequalities, forcing the legislature to redraw its map again without floterial districts.{{Cite news |date=February 20, 1967 |title=Supreme Court Rejects State Redistricting Plan: Deviations Declared Not Right |page=1 |work=The Austin Statesman |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1515787336 |access-date=May 12, 2023 |id={{ProQuest|1515787336}}}}Bickerstaff, Heath 2020, pp. 81–83

Barbara Jordan used her power in the Texas Senate to influence redistricting after the 1970 census. Houston had gained a fourth congressional district, the 18th, which Jordan ran in during the 1972 elections.Keith 2013, p. 20 At the same time, however, the legislature dismantled Jordan's Senate district, splitting its African American population between several other districts to make it easier for Democrats to win them.Bickerstaff 2007, p. 40 Federal courts once again challenged the proportionality of the districts in White v. Weiser, but the Supreme Court stayed the challenge until after the elections.{{Cite book |last=Texas State Historical Association |url=https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth113812/m1/645/ |title=Texas Almanac, 1974–1975 |publisher=The Dallas Morning News |year=1973 |page=641 |access-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-date=February 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208062707/https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth113812/m1/645/ |url-status=live }} A District Court had ruled the legislature's districts unconstitutional due to their average population deviation of 0.745%, which violated the "one man, one vote" principle established by Wesberry v. Sanders. The legislature argued that the deviations were necessary to protect incumbents, but the District Court did not approve of this explanation. This disapproval was not held upon appeal to the Supreme Court.{{Cite web |title=White v. Weiser, 412 U.S. 783 (1973) |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/412/783/ |access-date=2022-08-05 |website=Justia Law |language=en |archive-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316232848/https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/412/783/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite journal |last=Aguilar |first=Javier |date=1998 |title=Congressional Redistricting in Texas: Time for a Change |url=https://www.stetson.edu/law/lawreview/media/congressional-redistricting-in-texas-time-for-a-change.pdf |journal=Stetson Law Review |volume=XXVII |pages=787–92 |access-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-date=May 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508125943/https://www.stetson.edu/law/lawreview/media/congressional-redistricting-in-texas-time-for-a-change.pdf |url-status=live }} The Supreme Court placed the lower court in charge of redrawing the map, which it did in time for the 1974 elections. After the 1974 elections, the legislature passed the court's districts into law, but they modified the boundaries of District 2 and District 6 to move the town of Streetman, which is on the border of Navarro County and Freestone County, fully within the boundaries of District 6.{{cite web |title=Texas Congressional Districts 1976-1980 Elections |url=https://redistricting.capitol.texas.gov/docs/maps/map_c_1976_1980.pdf |website=Texas Redistricting |access-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-date=February 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208062714/https://redistricting.capitol.texas.gov/docs/maps/map_c_1976_1980.pdf |url-status=live }}

The Texas Legislature passed maps for the state House of Representatives in 1971, but it did not pass state Senate maps, forcing the Legislative Redistricting Board to convene for the first time to draw the chamber's maps. The map for the state Senate passed the scrutiny of the courts, but the map for the state House did not.Bickerstaff, Heath 2020, pp. 87–89 Republicans had sued the state over the state House's map, alleging that it violated the "county line rule". The Supreme Court of Texas in Smith v. Craddick agreed with the Republicans and struck down the map.{{Cite web |title=Smith v. Craddick |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/supreme-court/1971/b-2932-0.html |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=Justia Law |language=en |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317012958/https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/supreme-court/1971/b-2932-0.html |url-status=live }} Additionally, the Supreme Court in Mauzy v. Legislative Redistricting Board ordered the Legislative Redistricting Board to reapportion the state House because the legislature's map was struck down, constituting the "[failure] to make such apportionment" that calls the Board into action.{{Cite web |title=Mauzy v. Legislative Redistricting Board |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/supreme-court/1971/b-2955-0.html |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=Justia Law |language=en |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317013000/https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/supreme-court/1971/b-2955-0.html |url-status=live }}

The legislature had voluntarily split Harris County into single-member state House districts in 1971, but eleven other counties still had multi-member districts.Bickerstaff 2007, p. 39 A Federal Court in Graves v. Barnes and White v. Regester then struck down the multi-member districts in Dallas County and Bexar County, calling them tools to diminish the voting power of minorities in those counties.{{Cite web |title=Graves v. Barnes, 405 U.S. 1201 (1972) |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/405/1201/ |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=Justia Law |language=en |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317012959/https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/405/1201/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=White v. Regester, 412 U.S. 755 (1973) |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/412/755/ |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=Justia Law |language=en |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317013001/https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/412/755/ |url-status=live }} Although the state opposed the notion that the multi-member districts discriminated against minorities, claiming that the districts were a means to make the redistricting process easier, the same district court in 1974 invalidated all of the state's multi-member districts in Graves v. Barnes.{{Cite web |last=Davies |first=David Martin |date=October 19, 2021 |title=50 years ago, a battle over redistricting changed Texas |url=https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/50-years-ago-a-battle-over-redistricting-changed-texas/ |access-date=2023-02-08 |website=Texas Standard |publisher=Texas Public Radio |language=en-US |archive-date=March 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310181804/https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/50-years-ago-a-battle-over-redistricting-changed-texas/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Graves v. Barnes |url=https://casetext.com/case/graves-v-barnes-4 |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=casetext.com |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317013010/https://casetext.com/case/graves-v-barnes-4 |url-status=live }} The legislature later drew a map composed solely of single-member state House districts to be used from the 1976 to the 1980 elections. In 1975, however, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was amended to include Texas under its Section 5 preclearance requirement. The U.S. Department of Justice objected to the state's districts in Tarrant, Nueces, and Jefferson Counties, with the courts adopting their own interim plan for those counties for the rest of the decade.Bickerstaff, Heath 2020, pp. 95–97

File:Bill Clements.jpg

In 1978, Republican Bill Clements was elected governor of Texas, ending Democrats' century-long hold of the office and their governmental trifecta. Republicans saw Clements' win as a vital tool to fight back against what they saw as Democratic gerrymandering in the state.{{Cite news |last=Curry |first=Bill |date=1978-11-09 |title=With Republican Governor, Texas Is a Two-Party State |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/11/09/with-republican-governor-texas-is-a-two-party-state/1dac3653-0917-487c-a345-d45062271a23/ |access-date=2023-03-17 |issn=0190-8286}}{{Cite news |last=Clymer |first=Adam |date=1981-06-10 |title=Many Democrats From 'Safe' Districts Face House Redistricting Threat in '82 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/10/us/many-democrats-from-safe-districts-face-house-redistricting-threat-in-82.html |access-date=2023-03-17 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317022729/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/10/us/many-democrats-from-safe-districts-face-house-redistricting-threat-in-82.html |url-status=live }} This divided government caused many to foresee difficulty in the state's 1980 redistricting cycle, and the process attracted the attention of many prominent members of the U.S. House.{{Cite news |date=1981-07-17 |title=States draw new House districts with slow hand |work=Christian Science Monitor |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1981/0717/071743.html |access-date=2022-06-28 |issn=0882-7729 |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317015933/https://www.csmonitor.com/1981/0717/071743.html |url-status=live }} The legislature failed to adopt new congressional districts during the regular legislative session in 1981 due to conflict between liberal and conservative Democrats. During a special session in 1981, conservative Democrats voted with Republicans on a plan supported by governor Clements. Most contentious during this session was the transfer of African-American voting precincts from District 5 to District 24 in the Dallas area. Though Republicans supported the establishment of the minority opportunity district,{{Cite book |last1=Murchison |first1=William |title=Judicial Politics Gone Wild: A Case Study of Judicial Activism in Texas |last2=Clements |first2=William |publisher=Washington Legal Foundation |year=1982 |pages=1–2 |language=en}} it was seen by many Democrats as a tactical political move to increase the Republican lean of the 5th District.{{Cite news |last=Clymer |first=Adam |date=1981-07-23 |title=Republicans Dividing and Conquering in Redistricting in Texas |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/23/us/republicans-dividing-and-conquering-in-redistricting-of-texas.html |access-date=2022-06-28 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317015932/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/23/us/republicans-dividing-and-conquering-in-redistricting-of-texas.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite journal |last=Aguilar |first=Javier |date=1998 |title=Congressional Redistricting in Texas: Time for a Change |url=https://www.stetson.edu/law/lawreview/media/congressional-redistricting-in-texas-time-for-a-change.pdf |journal=Stetson Law Review |volume=XXVII |pages=793–97 |access-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-date=May 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508125943/https://www.stetson.edu/law/lawreview/media/congressional-redistricting-in-texas-time-for-a-change.pdf |url-status=live }} The map that passed was intended to give Republicans three to four more seats in Texas's congressional delegation, as well as to give African Americans one more seat.{{Cite news |last=Stevens |first=William K. |date=January 30, 1982 |title=Texas' Districting is Rejected by U.S.: Congressional Lines Are Said to Dilute the Voting Power of Two Minority Groups |page=9 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/121941479 |access-date=March 16, 2023|id={{ProQuest|121941479}} }}{{Cite news |last=Balz |first=Dan |date=1981-08-11 |title=Texas Approves Redistricting That Aids GOP |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/08/11/texas-approves-redistricting-that-aids-gop/69638f34-68a2-40b3-900e-474a7e07096b/ |access-date=2023-03-17 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=August 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827142035/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/08/11/texas-approves-redistricting-that-aids-gop/69638f34-68a2-40b3-900e-474a7e07096b/ |url-status=live }}

The adopted congressional districts were challenged under preclearance by the Justice Department in Upham v. Seamon, asserting that the boundaries of District 15 and District 27 were racially gerrymandered. The court ruled in favor of the Department of Justice, and it drew its own map, which established two districts in Dallas County where African-Americans made up a substantial proportion, but not a majority, of the voting-age population.Murchison, Clements 1982, p. 3 The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, and it remanded the case back to the District Court, but the ruling was made so close to the May primary election that the District Court's maps were allowed to stand for the 1982 elections.{{Cite news |last= |first= |last2= |first2= |date=February 11, 1982 |title=Judges Set a Deadline on Texas Redistricting |language=en-US |page=30 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/11/us/judges-set-a-deadline-on-texas-redistricting.html |access-date=2023-03-17 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317022728/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/11/us/judges-set-a-deadline-on-texas-redistricting.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Upham v. Seamon, 456 U.S. 37 (1982) |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/456/37/ |access-date=2022-06-23 |website=Justia Law |language=en |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317015932/https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/456/37/ |url-status=live }} Clements and other Republicans criticized the court's decision as judicial activism.Murchison, Clements 1982, pp. i, 1–11 The legislature modified other districts for the 1984 elections, keeping the court-modified districts in place.Bickerstaff, Heath 2020, p. 113

The Texas Legislature passed legislative redistricting bills in 1981, but governor Clements vetoed the state Senate map, and the State Supreme Court struck down the state House map for violating the "county line rule". The Legislative Redistricting Board drew maps for both chambers, which were challenged by lawsuits in Terrazas v. Clements.Bickerstaff, Heath 2020, pp. 104–110 Additionally, the Justice Department blocked both maps for violating the Voting Rights Act.{{Cite news |last= |date=January 27, 1982 |title=Around the Nation; Justice Dept. Rejects Texas Redistricting Plan |language=en-US |page=14 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/27/us/around-the-nation-justice-dept-rejects-texas-redistricting-plan.html |access-date=2023-03-17 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317024916/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/27/us/around-the-nation-justice-dept-rejects-texas-redistricting-plan.html |url-status=live }} Given the imminence of the March primary, the courts allowed the state Senate maps to be used for the 1982 elections, but it forced modifications to state House districts in Bexar County and El Paso County.{{Cite news |last= |date=1982-03-07 |title=Around the Nation; Texas Redistricting Plan Upheld by Federal Panel |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/07/us/around-the-nation-texas-redistricting-plan-upheld-by-federal-panel.html |access-date=2023-03-17 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317024922/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/07/us/around-the-nation-texas-redistricting-plan-upheld-by-federal-panel.html |url-status=live }} In 1983, the legislature adopted the court's modified state House map into law. It also altered eight state Senate districts but avoided a full reapportionment, which would have necessitated re-electing all senators in 1984. The courts approved both plans.{{Cite web |title=Terrazas v. Clements, 581 F. Supp. 1319 (N.D. Tex. 1983) |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/581/1319/1596568/ |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=Justia Law |language=en |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317024916/https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/581/1319/1596568/ |url-status=live }}Bickerstaff, Heath 2020, p. 110

File:Eddie Bernice Johnson Official portrait 107th Congress.jpg

In 1990, Democrat Ann Richards was elected governor of Texas, succeeding Bill Clements, who had won a second, non-consecutive term in 1986.{{Cite web |last=Kennedy |first=J. Michael |date=1990-11-07 |title=Democrat Richards Wins Bitter Contest With Williams : Texas: The governor's race was the state's longest, most expensive and perhaps most rancorous. GOP oilman's verbal gaffes damaged his chances. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-11-07-mn-3553-story.html |access-date=2022-08-02 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317032609/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-11-07-mn-3553-story.html |url-status=live }} Democratic State Senator Eddie Bernice Johnson chaired the redistricting subcommittee and drew maps with the intention of creating a minority-majority district in Dallas.{{Cite web |last1=Burka |first1=Paul |last2=Hart |first2=Patricia |last3=October 1991 0 |first3=Ellen Williams |date=1991-10-01 |title=1991: The Best and the Worst Legislators |url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/the-best-and-the-worst-legislators-1991/ |access-date=2022-08-02 |website=Texas Monthly |language=en |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317032606/https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/the-best-and-the-worst-legislators-1991/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Burke |first=Anabel |title=Eddie Bernice Johnson |url=https://wacohistory.org/items/show/199 |access-date=2022-08-02 |website=Waco History |language=en |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317032606/https://wacohistory.org/items/show/199 |url-status=live }} This drew the ire of U.S. representatives Martin Frost and John Wiley Bryant, whose districts became considerably more White and Republican-leaning as a result. A majority-Hispanic district was also created in Houston alongside District 18, a majority-Black district. The Texas Legislature sided with Johnson's plan and adopted new congressional districts in 1991.{{Cite news |last=Edsall |first=Thomas |date=May 21, 1991 |title=Texas Redistricting a Case Study of Democrats' Struggle |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1991/05/21/texas-redistricting-a-case-study-of-democrats-struggle/d2f4fee4-ae02-4f1f-95af-94887b5bfc66/ |access-date=August 2, 2022 |archive-date=February 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205183029/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1991/05/21/texas-redistricting-a-case-study-of-democrats-struggle/d2f4fee4-ae02-4f1f-95af-94887b5bfc66/ |url-status=live }} Republicans criticized the maps for protecting Democratic incumbents, and others sued over the map's use of census data that may have undercounted minority populations. Despite this, the Justice Department granted the maps preclearance, and the maps were used in the 1992 elections.{{Cite news |last=Stencel |first=Mark |date=August 25, 1991 |title=Texas to Appeal Injunction of Redistricting Plans |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1991/08/25/texas-to-appeal-rejection-of-redistricting-plans/f1deb604-ec2e-479f-b865-9dcda27fe10f/ |access-date=March 16, 2023}}{{Cite news |last=Edsall |first=Thomas B. |date=November 20, 1991 |title=Justice Dept. Clears Texas Redistricting; State GOP Faults Plan for Protecting Democratic Incumbents |page=a8 |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/307481192 |access-date=March 16, 2023|id={{ProQuest|307481192}} }}

File:Texas 30th CD 1991 - 1996.gif

In early 1994, several Republicans sued the state alleging that District 18 and District 29 were racially gerrymandered.{{Cite news |last1=Cooper |first1=Kenneth |last2=Merida |first2=Kevin |date=January 28, 1994 |title=New Suit Galvanizes Black Lawmakers |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/01/28/new-suit-galvanizes-black-lawmakers/25d0222b-b6f4-4897-85f4-d73610cc4052/ |access-date=August 2, 2022}} District 30 was later added to the case, and in August, a federal judicial panel ordered the state to redraw its congressional districts.{{Cite news |last=Verhovek |first=Sam Howe |date=1994-08-18 |title=Redraw Lines Of 3 Districts, Texas Is Told |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/18/us/redraw-lines-of-3-districts-texas-is-told.html |access-date=2022-08-02 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317033817/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/18/us/redraw-lines-of-3-districts-texas-is-told.html |url-status=live }} A separate panel later allowed the struck districts to be used for the 1994 elections, but it ordered the state to redraw its districts before the 1996 elections.{{Cite web |last=Kirkland |first=Michael |date=December 21, 1994 |title=Texas asks for redistricting stay |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1994/12/21/Texas-asks-for-redistricting-stay/2631787986000/ |access-date=2022-08-02 |website=UPI |language=en}} The state later appealed this decision, and it became the Supreme Court case Bush v. Vera."Bush v. Vera." Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/1995/94-805. Accessed 2 Aug. 2022. During the 1994 elections, Republicans won a majority of the statewide popular vote, but Democrats won the majority of Texas's congressional districts.{{Cite web |last=Ramos |first=Mary G. |date=1995 |title=Texas Almanac, 1996–1997 |url=https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth162514/m1/448/ |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=The Portal to Texas History |pages=448–49 |language=English |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317033818/https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth162514/m1/448/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite journal |date=1994 |title=Rare Combination of Forces Makes '94 Vote Historic |url=https://library.cqpress.com/cqalmanac/document.php?id=cqal94-1102765 |journal=Congressional Quarterly |volume=50 |pages=561–64}} Bush v. Vera ruled that districts such as District 18 and District 30 were racially gerrymandered.{{Cite web |title=Bush v. Vera, 517 U.S. 952 (1996) |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/517/952/ |access-date=2022-05-19 |website=Justia Law |language=en |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317040528/https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/517/952/ |url-status=live }} A prior district court decision had voided the results of the 1996 primary elections in 13 districts, which the Supreme Court upheld. These districts instead conducted special elections concurrent with the 1996 elections in the other districts.Bickerstaff, Heath 2020, pp. 125–127 Despite never winning the statewide popular vote again, Democrats continued to hold their majority in Texas's congressional delegation throughout the decade.

Republicans similarly accused Democrats of gerrymandering the state's legislative maps. Unlike with the state's congressional maps, however, Republicans were successful, as courts completely overhauled the state Senate map and partially overhauled the state House map. Democrats attempted to pass a new map for the state Senate in January 1992 for the courts to approve, but they rejected this offer and imposed their own maps.{{Cite news |date=January 17, 1992 |title=Justices reject Texas request to block redistricting by court |page=4 |work=The Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/283309390 |access-date=March 16, 2023|id={{ProQuest|283309390}} }}{{Cite news |last=Schwartz |first=Maralee |date=January 17, 1992 |title=Texas Redistricting Rift |page=a16 |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/307500868 |access-date=March 16, 2023|id={{ProQuest|307500868}} }} For the state House, they simply codified the court's map into law.Bickerstaff, Heath 2020, p. 124 Republicans saw the new maps as their best opportunity to win control of the state Senate for the first time since Reconstruction.{{Cite news |last=Suro |first=Roberto |date=1992-01-17 |title=Texas G.O.P. Wins on Redistricting |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/17/us/texas-gop-wins-on-redistricting.html |access-date=2023-03-17 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317040528/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/17/us/texas-gop-wins-on-redistricting.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=February 4, 1992 |title=Texas Democrats and Republicans Battle Over Redistricting |work=The Christian Science Monitor |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/291194035 |access-date=March 16, 2023 |id={{ProQuest|291194035}} |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317040537/https://www.proquest.com/docview/291194035 |url-status=live }} While Republicans did not win control in the 1992 elections, they won 13 of the 16 seats they would have needed to do so, a gain of four from the 1990 elections.{{Cite book |last=Kingston |first=Mike |url=https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth162513/m1/410 |title=Texas Almanac, 1994-1995 |publisher=The Dallas Morning News |year=1993 |location=Dallas |page=410 |language=en |access-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317040536/https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth162513/m1/410/ |url-status=live }}

In 1994, the legislature ran for election under the seats passed during the January 1992 session. As the state Senate map was completely different from the 1992 map, all senators were required to run for re-election, instead of only half of them.{{Cite journal |last=McNeely |first=Dave |date=June 1997 |title=The Texas Senate shuffle |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A19651210/AONE?u=txshracd2548 |journal=State Legislatures |volume=23 |issue=6 |page=21 |via=Gale Academic OneFile}} The 1995 lawsuit Thomas v. Bush further altered the maps, as the courts reached a settlement with the legislature to alter some districts for the 1996 elections. These changes, plus a few minor ones, were passed into law and precleared for the 1998 and 2000 elections.Bickerstaff, Heath 2020, p. 127 Republicans won 15 state Senate seats during the 1996 general election, and their victory in a December runoff gave them control of the chamber for the first time in 124 years, splitting the Texas Legislature between the Republican-controlled Senate and the Democratic-controlled House.{{Cite news |last=Barboza |first=David |date=1996-11-29 |title=Republicans Strike Deep In the Heart of Texas |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/29/us/republicans-strike-deep-in-the-heart-of-texas.html |access-date=2023-03-17 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317043219/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/29/us/republicans-strike-deep-in-the-heart-of-texas.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Rep. Stockman loses in Texas Congress runoff GOP claims majority in one house of state legislature, 1st since 1872 |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1996-12-12-1996347131-story.html |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=Baltimore Sun |date=December 12, 1996 |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317043229/https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1996-12-12-1996347131-story.html |url-status=live }}

Democrats narrowly maintained control of the Texas House of Representatives after the 2000 elections, preventing complete Republican control over the redistricting process.{{Cite news |date=September 28, 2000 |title=National Parties Spend For Texas Redistricting Advantage |work=Congress Daily AM |publisher=The Atlantic Monthly Group LLC |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A65531679/AONE?u=txshracd2548 |access-date=March 16, 2023 |via=Gale Academic OneFile}}{{Cite web |last=Ramsey |first=Ross |date=2000-11-13 |title=A Truly Fantastic Week for Political Junkies |url=https://www.texastribune.org/2000/11/13/a-truly-fantastic-week-for-political-junkies/ |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=The Texas Tribune |language=en |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317050936/https://www.texastribune.org/2000/11/13/a-truly-fantastic-week-for-political-junkies/ |url-status=live }} During the 2001 regular session, the divided legislature failed to pass any redistricting plans.{{Cite news |date=May 22, 2001 |title=Texas Legislature Deadlocked Over Redistricting Plan |work=Congress Daily AM |publisher=The Atlantic Monthly Group LLC |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A74986158/AONE?u=txshracd2548 |access-date=March 16, 2023 |via=Gale Academic OneFile}} Congressional redistricting fell to the courts after no special session was called to address redistricting.{{Cite news |date=September 19, 2001 |title=Partisan Texas Battle Erupts Over Court Redistricting Plan |work=Congress Daily AM |publisher=The Atlantic Monthly Group LLC |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A78395113/AONE?u=txshracd2548 |access-date=March 16, 2023 |via=Gale Academic OneFile}}{{Cite journal |date=July 10, 2001 |title=Texas: No Special Session |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A76426398/AONE?u=txshracd2548 |journal=The Bond Buyer |publisher=SourceMedia, Inc. |volume=337 |issue=31177 |page=33 |via=Gale Academic OneFile}} While the court's initial map appeared to benefit Republicans,{{Cite news |last=Edsall |first=Thomas B. |date=October 5, 2001 |title=Texas Setback Rattles Democrats; If Redistricting Plan Is Upheld, Prospects in House Look Bleak |page=A6 |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/409230911 |access-date=March 17, 2023|id={{ProQuest|409230911}} }} the final maps ordered for the 2002 elections allowed Democrats to maintain their majority in the state's congressional delegation.{{Cite news |last=Edsall |first=Thomas B. |date=October 12, 2001 |title=Texas Judge Revises Redistricting Proposal; Fewer Democratic Seats in Jeopardy |page=A3 |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/409171816 |access-date=March 17, 2023|id={{ProQuest|409171816}} }}{{Cite news |date=November 15, 2001 |title=Parties Agree Texas Redistricting Ruling Favors Democrats |work=Congress Daily AM |publisher=The Atlantic Monthly Group LLC |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A80074405/AONE?u=txshracd2548 |access-date=March 17, 2023 |via=Gale Academic OneFile}}{{Cite news |last=Edsall |first=Thomas B. |date=November 15, 2001 |title=Court Approves Texas Redistricting Plan; Democrats Call Decision on New Boundaries 'Major Victory' in State, National Fight |page=A7 |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/409238416 |access-date=March 17, 2023 |id={{ProQuest|409238416}} |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317050936/https://www.proquest.com/docview/409238416 |url-status=live }}

Legislative redistricting fell to the Legislative Redistricting Board after Republican governor Rick Perry did not call a special session. Republicans controlled four of the five seats on the board, so Democrats tried to convince the Republican members of the Board to adopt a plan that would keep the partisan balance of the legislature intact. While Republican lieutenant governor Bill Ratliff was open to such a plan, the majority of the Board pushed for a plan that heavily favored Republicans.{{Cite news |last=Attlesey |first=Sam |date=2001 |title=New maps could give GOP large majority in both houses Texas board OKs redistricting plans despite criticism |page=1 |work=The Dallas Morning News |access-date=}}Bickerstaff, Heath 2020, pp. 132–134 Challenges by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Department of Justice altered the board's state House districts, while keeping the state Senate map intact.{{Cite news |date=December 2, 2001 |title=MALDEF scores victory in Texas House plan |page=1A |work=La Prensa |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/368603106 |access-date=March 17, 2023 |id={{ProQuest|368603106}} |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317055235/https://www.proquest.com/docview/368603106 |url-status=live }} The Board had attempted to draw Democratic Speaker Pete Laney out of his west Texas district, but this had the ripple effect of reducing the Hispanic population in District 74 along the Texas–Mexico border. The Board agreed to revert this change, allowing the map to pass preclearance.Bickerstaff, Heath 2020, p. 134

While Democrats had maintained their advantage with the state's congressional districts, Republicans won control of the Texas House of Representatives and made major gains in the Texas Senate in 2002, giving them a governmental trifecta for the first time since Reconstruction.{{Cite news |last1=Halbfinger |first1=David M. |last2=Yardley |first2=Jim |date=2002-11-07 |title=The 2002 Elections: The South; Vote Solidifies Shift of South to the G.O.P. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/07/us/the-2002-elections-the-south-vote-solidifies-shift-of-south-to-the-gop.html |access-date=2023-03-17 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=February 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208013508/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/07/us/the-2002-elections-the-south-vote-solidifies-shift-of-south-to-the-gop.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |last1=Barta |first1=Carolyn |url=https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth162511/m1/395 |title=Texas Almanac, 2004-2005 |last2=Alvarez |first2=Elizabeth Cruce |publisher=The Dallas Morning News |year=2004 |location=Dallas|pages=395–96 |language=en |chapter=Republicans Take Total Control of State Government |access-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317053725/https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth162511/m1/395/ |url-status=live }}

{{Main|2003 Texas redistricting}}

File:Texas redistricting - 2002 and 2004.png

After Republicans took full control of the Texas Legislature, they attempted to pass a mid-decade redistricting bill near the end of the 2003 regular session. In response, 58 Democratic members of the state House boycotted part of the session and left the capitol to deprive the body of a quorum, preventing the Republican-led chamber from functioning. House Speaker Tom Craddick ordered the arrest of the missing lawmakers.{{Cite news |agency=Associated Press |date=2003-05-13 |title=Democrats Hide To Halt Action On Texas Redistricting |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/13/us/democrats-hide-to-halt-action-on-texas-redistricting.html |access-date=2023-03-17 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317185744/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/13/us/democrats-hide-to-halt-action-on-texas-redistricting.html |url-status=live }} 53 of those members, later known as the "Killer D's," fled to a Holiday Inn in Ardmore, Oklahoma to continue depriving the House of a quorum, attracting the attention of national media, as well as Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, who praised their actions.{{Cite news |last=Pierce |first=Emily |date=May 15, 2003 |title=Democrats Turn to Texas; House Minority Likes Walkout |page=1 |work=Roll Call |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/326700732 |access-date=March 17, 2023 |id={{ProQuest|326700732}} |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317185744/https://www.proquest.com/docview/326700732 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Boycott by Killer D's stings Texas House |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2003-05-13-0305130214-story.html |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=Baltimore Sun |date=May 13, 2003 |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317193447/https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2003-05-13-0305130214-story.html |url-status=live }} The efforts later received support from the state's Hispanic chambers of commerce.{{Cite news |last=Perry |first=Daniel |date=September 10, 2003 |title=McAllen Hispanic Chamber Authors Approved Resolution on Texas Redistricting |work=Monitor (McAllen, TX) |publisher=Tribune Content Agency |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A119676390/ITOF?u=txshracd2548 |access-date=March 17, 2023 |via=Gale General OneFile}} After the regular session ended, Republican governor Rick Perry called a special session to address redistricting.{{Cite news |last=Hoppe |first=Christy |date=June 19, 2003 |title=Texas Governor Orders Redistricting Session |page=1 |work=Knight Ridder Tribune Business News |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/460617709 |access-date=March 17, 2023 |id={{ProQuest|460617709}} |archive-date=April 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230422104359/https://www.proquest.com/docview/460617709 |url-status=live }}

File:2003 Texas Redistricting Changes.svg

House Democrats were unable to stage another walkout during the first special session, but Senate Democrats were able to filibuster the bill until the end of the session, even garnering the support of Republican Senator Bill Ratliff.Bickerstaff 2007, pp. 178–185 Knowing that Perry would immediately call a second special session after the end of the first, scheduling the session such that they could not filibuster the redistricting package, eleven Democratic members of the Texas Senate (the entire Democratic minority except for Ken Armbrister)Bickerstaff 2007, p. 196 chartered a plane and flew to Albuquerque, New Mexico prior to the beginning of the session to prevent a quorum.{{Cite news |last1=Walsh |first1=Edward |last2=Brulliard |first2=Karin |date=2003-08-02 |title='Hunch' Launched Second Flight of Texas Democrats |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/08/02/hunch-launched-second-flight-of-texas-democrats/ce82bc3b-d1e0-47df-8c80-ce7f5e5b20ed/ |access-date=2023-03-17 |issn=0190-8286}}{{Cite news |agency=Associated Press |date=2003-07-29 |title=National Briefing {{!}} Southwest: Texas: Democrats On The Run, Again |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/29/us/national-briefing-southwest-texas-democrats-on-the-run-again.html |access-date=2023-03-17 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317185746/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/29/us/national-briefing-southwest-texas-democrats-on-the-run-again.html |url-status=live }} The "Texas Eleven," as they were called, received support from Democrats across the country, as some members moved to other states to continue their quorum-bust. Senate Republicans changed the chamber's rules to remove the quorum requirements, attempting to lure Democrats back to the state to fight the changes in court.{{Cite news |last=Martinez |first=Julia C. |date=August 29, 2003 |title=Colorado Democrats Embrace Texas Democrats on the Lam at Fundraiser |page=1 |work=Knight Ridder Tribune Business News |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/464351142 |access-date=March 17, 2023 |id={{ProQuest|464351142}} |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317185746/https://www.proquest.com/docview/464351142 |url-status=live }}

File:TravisCountyDistricts.png (outlined in red) in 2002, left, and 2004, right.]]

Democrats were unable to block the redistricting package during a third special session, but they staged a symbolic walkout as the package neared passage to delay it over the weekend.{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=2003-10-12 |title=Democrats in Texas House Stage Another Walkout Over Remap |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/12/national/democrats-in-texas-house-stage-another-walkout-over-remap.html |access-date=2023-03-17 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317193447/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/12/national/democrats-in-texas-house-stage-another-walkout-over-remap.html |url-status=live }} After this brief delay, the state Senate passed the redistricting bill, ending the six-month-long redistricting process.{{Cite news |last=Castro |first=April |date=October 13, 2003 |title=Legislators Pass Texas Redistricting |page=3A |work=South Florida Sun – Sentinel |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/389904458 |access-date=March 17, 2023 |id={{ProQuest|389904458}} |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317193449/https://www.proquest.com/docview/389904458 |url-status=live }} The Justice Department granted the maps preclearance, but only after its professional staff's objections had been overruled by the department's political appointees.Bickerstaff 2007, pp. 257–261 Federal courts allowed the maps to be used for the 2004 elections, but Democrats intended to appeal it to the Supreme Court.{{Cite news |last=Blumenthal |first=Ralph |date=2004-01-07 |title=Texas G.O.P. Is Victorious In Remapping |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/07/us/texas-gop-is-victorious-in-remapping.html |access-date=2023-03-17 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317193448/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/07/us/texas-gop-is-victorious-in-remapping.html |url-status=live }} The map was ultimately successful for Republicans, as they won five Democratic-held seats, while a sixth Democrat, Ralph Hall, switched parties, giving Republicans a majority in Texas's congressional delegation for the first time since Reconstruction, and helping the party maintain their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.{{Cite web |last=Mercurio |first=John |date=January 3, 2004 |title= Texas Rep. Hall switches to GOP |url=https://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/02/elec04.h.party.switch/index.html |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=www.cnn.com |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317193448/https://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/02/elec04.h.party.switch/index.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last1=Hulse |first1=Carl |last2=Rosenbaum |first2=David E. |date=2004-11-03 |title=With Texas Redistricting as a Backdrop, Republicans Retain Their Majority in the House |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/03/politics/campaign/with-texas-redistricting-as-a-backdrop-republicans-retain.html |access-date=2023-03-17 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317193449/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/03/politics/campaign/with-texas-redistricting-as-a-backdrop-republicans-retain.html |url-status=live }}

Democrats' challenge to the Republican's map made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court as League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry. They argued that Republicans had used both racial and partisan gerrymandering when drawing the 23rd, 24th, and 25th districts. While the Court rejected the partisan gerrymandering claims, as well as racial gerrymandering claims in the 24th and 25th districts, they agreed that the 23rd district was gerrymandered against Hispanic voters.{{Cite news |last=Greenhouse |first=Linda |date=2006-06-29 |title=Justices Uphold Most Remapping in Texas by G.O.P. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/29/washington/29district.html |access-date=2023-03-17 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317215400/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/29/washington/29district.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title= High court upholds most of Texas redistricting map |date= Jun 28, 2006 |url=https://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/06/28/scotus.texasredistrict/ |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=www.cnn.com |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317215400/https://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/06/28/scotus.texasredistrict/ |url-status=live }} The courts redrew the district, as well as four other nearby districts; however, as the maps were not completed until after the primaries, the courts voided the results of the primaries, forcing all five districts to conduct special elections concurrent with the 2006 general election instead. The redrawn boundaries, as well as a low-turnout December runoff, allowed Democrat Ciro Rodriguez to unseat Republican Henry Bonilla in the 23rd district.{{Cite web |last=Giroux |first=Greg |title=Rodriguez's Upset Win in Texas 23 Yields Another Seat for Dems – The New York Times |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/cq/2006/12/12/cq_2034.html?pagewanted=all |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=archive.nytimes.com |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317215400/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/cq/2006/12/12/cq_2034.html?pagewanted=all |url-status=live }}

Although Democrats nearly won control of the Texas House in the 2008 elections, Republicans erased all of their gains in 2010, giving Republicans a very strong legislative advantage heading into the 2012 redistricting cycle.{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Brandi Grissom, Reeve Hamilton, Elise Hu, Ross Ramsey, Emily Ramshaw, Morgan Smith, Matt Stiles, Julián Aguilar, David Muto, Kate Galbraith, Becca Aaronson, Julie Chang, Tristan Hallman and Emily |date=2010-11-03 |title=Red November |url=https://www.texastribune.org/2010/11/02/yes-the-gop-wave-turned-out-to-be-a-tsunami/ |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=The Texas Tribune |language=en |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317223126/https://www.texastribune.org/2010/11/02/yes-the-gop-wave-turned-out-to-be-a-tsunami/ |url-status=live }} Texas gained four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives after the 2010 census, and Texans believed that Republicans would draw most of the state's new districts to favor themselves.{{Cite web |last1=March 29 |first1=Richard Dunham on |last2=PM |first2=2011 at 3:08 |date=2011-03-29 |title=Insiders' poll: Will Texas Republicans draw new House districts to reflect Latino population gains? |url=https://blog.chron.com/txpotomac/2011/03/insiders-poll-will-texas-republicans-draw-new-house-districts-to-reflect-latino-population-gains/ |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=Texas on the Potomac |language=en-US |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317223127/https://blog.chron.com/txpotomac/2011/03/insiders-poll-will-texas-republicans-draw-new-house-districts-to-reflect-latino-population-gains/ |url-status=live }} The legislature did not complete its maps during the regular session, so governor Rick Perry called a special session.{{cite web |last1=Grissom |first1=Brandi |last2=Smith |first2=Morgan |date=May 30, 2011 |title=Updated: Democrats Say Bring on the Special Session |url=http://www.texastribune.org/texas-legislature/82nd-legislative-session/updated-democrats-say-bring-on-the-special-session/ |access-date=March 17, 2023 |work=The Texas Tribune |archive-date=August 31, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831083554/http://www.texastribune.org/texas-legislature/82nd-legislative-session/updated-democrats-say-bring-on-the-special-session/ |url-status=live }} The legislature passed its map during the special session, which drew criticism from minority groups for ignoring their population growth over the past decade.{{cite web |last=Montgomery |first=Dave |date=June 20, 2011 |title=Texas congressional redistricting plan gets final approval |url=http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/06/20/3166760/texas-congressional-redistricting.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111116214358/http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/06/20/3166760/texas-congressional-redistricting.html |archive-date=November 16, 2011 |access-date=March 17, 2023 |work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram}} The Department of Justice sued the state for racial discrimination, and a federal court re-drew the state's map, but the U.S. Supreme Court overturned this decision, holding that the court had not paid enough attention to the maps drawn by the legislature.{{cite web |last=Reilly |first=Ryan J. |date=September 23, 2011 |title=DOJ: Rick Perry's Texas Redistricting Plan Purposefully Discriminated Against Minorities |url=http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/09/doj_rick_perrys_texas_redistricting_plan_purposefully_discriminated_against_minorities.php |access-date=March 17, 2023 |work=Talking Points Memo |archive-date=August 12, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130812030826/http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/09/doj_rick_perrys_texas_redistricting_plan_purposefully_discriminated_against_minorities.php |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last=Livingston |first=Abby |date=November 23, 2011 |title=Court-Drawn Texas Map Boosts Democrats |url=http://www.rollcall.com/news/Texas-redistricting-court-map-helps-Democrats-2012-210522-1.html |access-date=March 17, 2023 |work=Roll Call |archive-date=November 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116231449/https://www.rollcall.com/news/Texas-redistricting-court-map-helps-Democrats-2012-210522-1.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Liptak |first=Adam |date=January 20, 2012 |title=Justices' Texas Redistricting Ruling Likely to Help G.O.P. |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/21/us/supreme-court-rejects-judge-drawn-maps-in-texas-redistricting-case.html |access-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317223126/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/21/us/supreme-court-rejects-judge-drawn-maps-in-texas-redistricting-case.html |url-status=live }} The Supreme Court upheld the state's redistricting plan in 2018.{{Cite news |last=Totenberg |first=Nina |date=June 25, 2018 |title=Divided Supreme Court Upholds Nearly All Of Texas GOP Redistricting Plan |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2018/06/25/623327469/divided-supreme-court-upholds-nearly-all-of-texas-gop-redistricting-plan |access-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-date=May 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502215635/https://www.npr.org/2018/06/25/623327469/divided-supreme-court-upholds-nearly-all-of-texas-gop-redistricting-plan |url-status=live }}

The Texas Legislature passed boundaries for itself in 2011, but the Justice Department denied them preclearance. A federal court in San Antonio implemented interim maps for the 2012 elections, which somewhat closely followed the legislature's initial maps.{{Cite web |last=Ramsey |first=Ross |date=2012-02-28 |title=Court Delivers Maps for Texas House, Congress |url=https://www.texastribune.org/2012/02/28/court-delivers-election-maps-texas-house-congress/ |access-date=2023-05-07 |website=The Texas Tribune |language=en |archive-date=May 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230507174120/https://www.texastribune.org/2012/02/28/court-delivers-election-maps-texas-house-congress/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Ramsey |first=Ross |date=2012-08-28 |title=Court: Texas Redistricting Maps Don't Protect Minority Voters |url=https://www.texastribune.org/2012/08/28/court-texas-political-maps-dont-protect-minority-v/ |access-date=2023-03-18 |website=The Texas Tribune |language=en |archive-date=March 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318173735/https://www.texastribune.org/2012/08/28/court-texas-political-maps-dont-protect-minority-v/ |url-status=live }} In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court in Shelby County v. Holder ruled the preclearance requirement of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional. This rendered the Justice Department's preclearance lawsuits moot, but the legislature had already adopted the San Antonio judge's redistricting maps into law in a 2013 special session, with minor changes to the state House's districts.{{Cite web |last=Aguilar |first=Ross Ramsey and Julián |date=2013-06-25 |title=High Court Strikes Down Key Provision of Voting Rights Act |url=https://www.texastribune.org/2013/06/25/key-provision-voting-rights-act-stricken-down/ |access-date=2023-03-18 |website=The Texas Tribune |language=en |archive-date=March 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318173734/https://www.texastribune.org/2013/06/25/key-provision-voting-rights-act-stricken-down/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Rancher |first=Katy |date=2013-09-06 |title=Court allows Texas Redistricting Maps for 2014 elections |url=https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/katy/news/article/Court-allows-Texas-Redistricting-Maps-for-2014-9466997.php |access-date=2023-03-18 |website=Chron |language=en-US |archive-date=March 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318173734/https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/katy/news/article/Court-allows-Texas-Redistricting-Maps-for-2014-9466997.php |url-status=live }} The Supreme Court later upheld the entirety of Texas's maps in Abbott v. Perez with the exception of House District 90 in Tarrant County, which it ruled to be an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.{{cite web |last=Ebbs |first=Stephanie |date=June 25, 2018 |title=Supreme Court rules one Texas district was racially gerrymandered |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/supreme-court-rules-texas-district-racially-gerrymandered/story?id=56140728 |access-date=March 18, 2023 |work=ABC News |archive-date=March 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318173734/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/supreme-court-rules-texas-district-racially-gerrymandered/story?id=56140728 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Prokop |first1=Andrew |date=Jun 25, 2018 |title=Supreme Court splits 5–4 on Texas racial gerrymandering case |work=Vox.com |publisher=Vox.com |url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/6/25/17500918/supreme-court-texas-gerrymandering-abbott-v-perez |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109031042/https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/6/25/17500918/supreme-court-texas-gerrymandering-abbott-v-perez |archive-date=November 9, 2020}}

File:Texas Congressional Districts, 118th Congress.svg.]]

In the 2018 elections, Democrats made major gains in the Texas House and Texas Senate, and they saw the 2020 elections as a chance to win control of the Texas House to give them power over the redistricting process in 2021.{{Cite web |last=Schneider |first=Andrew |date=2019-08-06 |title=To Counter Gerrymandering, Texas Democrats Aim To Recapture State House in 2020 |url=https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2019/08/06/341644/to-counter-gerrymandering-texas-democrats-aim-to-recapture-state-house-in-2020/ |access-date=2023-03-18 |website=Houston Public Media |language=en-US |archive-date=March 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318180009/https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2019/08/06/341644/to-counter-gerrymandering-texas-democrats-aim-to-recapture-state-house-in-2020/ |url-status=live }} While Democrats came close to flipping several seats, they made no net gains in the 2020 elections, leaving Republicans with full control of the Texas Legislature for the 2020 redistricting cycle.{{Cite web |last=Rosenzweig-Ziff |first=Cassandra Pollock and Dan |date=2020-11-04 |title=Republicans appear to keep majority of Texas House |url=https://www.texastribune.org/2020/11/03/texas-house-election-results/ |access-date=2023-03-18 |website=The Texas Tribune |language=en |archive-date=March 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318180008/https://www.texastribune.org/2020/11/03/texas-house-election-results/ |url-status=live }} Texas gained two seats in the U.S. House of Representatives as a result of the 2020 census.{{Cite web |last=Ura |first=Alexa |date=2021-04-26 |title=Texas will gain two seats in Congress as residents of color drive population gains |url=https://www.texastribune.org/2021/04/26/texas-congress-seats-gain/ |access-date=2023-02-08 |website=The Texas Tribune |language=en |archive-date=September 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924002727/https://www.texastribune.org/2021/04/26/texas-congress-seats-gain/ |url-status=live }} The maps Republicans proposed allowed Democrats to keep the two House seats they gained during the 2018 elections, the 7th and 32nd congressional districts, but they made every district that Republicans nearly lost in 2018 and 2020 significantly more Republican-leaning.{{Cite news |last1=Corasaniti |first1=Nick |last2=Koeze |first2=Ella |last3=Lu |first3=Denise |date=2021-10-03 |title=How Texas Plans to Make Its House Districts Even Redder |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/10/03/us/politics/texas-redistricting-map-2022.html |access-date=2023-03-18 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318180008/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/10/03/us/politics/texas-redistricting-map-2022.html |url-status=live }} Legislators drew the maps for the state during a special session in Fall 2021.{{Cite web |last=Kao |first=Alexa Ura and Jason |date=2021-09-20 |title=Texas Republicans have the redistricting tools to preserve their power. Here's how they can do it. |url=https://www.texastribune.org/2021/09/20/texas-redistricting-special-session/ |access-date=2023-02-08 |website=The Texas Tribune |language=en |archive-date=February 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208072555/https://www.texastribune.org/2021/09/20/texas-redistricting-special-session/ |url-status=live }}

Many have criticized the maps that passed as racial and partisan gerrymanders designed to keep Republicans in power and reduce the voting power of minorities. News sources specifically noted that both of Texas's new congressional districts were majority White, despite voters of color making up 95% of the state's growth in the previous decade.{{Cite web |last=Ura |first=Alexa |date=2021-10-19 |title=Texas Republicans send Gov. Greg Abbott a new congressional map that protects GOP power, reduces influence of voters of color |url=https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/18/texas-congressional-maps-redistricting/ |access-date=2023-02-08 |website=The Texas Tribune |language=en |archive-date=March 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317182744/https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/18/texas-congressional-maps-redistricting/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Limón |first=Elvia |date=2021-10-25 |title=Gov. Greg Abbott signs off on Texas' new political maps, which protect GOP majorities while diluting voices of voters of color |url=https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/25/2021-texas-redistricting-explained/ |access-date=2023-02-08 |website=The Texas Tribune |language=en |archive-date=December 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211219232031/https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/25/2021-texas-redistricting-explained/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Rakich |first=Nathaniel |date=2022-02-28 |title=Texas May Have The Worst Gerrymander In The Country |url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/videos/texas-may-have-the-worst-gerrymander-in-the-country/ |access-date=2023-02-08 |website=FiveThirtyEight |language=en-US |archive-date=March 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230320092502/https://fivethirtyeight.com/videos/texas-may-have-the-worst-gerrymander-in-the-country/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Dallas Morning News Editorial Board |date=Oct 12, 2021 |title=Texas redistricting needs to go back to the drawing board |work=The Dallas Morning News |url=https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2021/10/12/texas-redistricting-needs-to-go-back-to-the-drawing-board/ |access-date=February 8, 2023 |archive-date=February 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218080242/https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2021/10/12/texas-redistricting-needs-to-go-back-to-the-drawing-board/ |url-status=live }} Multiple groups, including the Justice Department, have sued the state over these maps.{{Cite web |date=2021-12-06 |title=Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against the State of Texas to Challenge Statewide Redistricting Plans |url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-files-lawsuit-against-state-texas-challenge-statewide-redistricting-plans |access-date=2023-02-08 |website=www.justice.gov |language=en |archive-date=February 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213101331/https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-files-lawsuit-against-state-texas-challenge-statewide-redistricting-plans |url-status=live }} Additionally, the Mexican American Legislative Caucus argued in 2021 in MALC v. Abbott that part of the state House map violates the "county line rule".{{Cite web |title= New Lawsuit Filed in Texas |url=https://www.democracydocket.com/cases/texas-redistricting-challenge-malc-state-court/ |access-date=2022-01-21 |website=Democracy Docket |date=November 3, 2021 |language=en-US |archive-date=March 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318180009/https://www.democracydocket.com/cases/texas-redistricting-challenge-malc-state-court/ |url-status=live }}

Many have called for the establishment of an independent redistricting commission for the state of Texas.{{Cite web |last=Gutierrez |first=Anthony |date=2021-11-07 |title=Commentary: Texas needs an independent redistricting commission |url=https://www.expressnews.com/opinion/commentary/article/Commentary-Texas-needs-an-independent-16596445.php |access-date=2023-03-18 |website=San Antonio Express-News |language=en-US |archive-date=March 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318181405/https://www.expressnews.com/opinion/commentary/article/Commentary-Texas-needs-an-independent-16596445.php |url-status=live }}Bickerstaff, Heath 2020, pp. 210–212 Adopting stricter redistricting criteria, such as expanding the "county line rule" to apply to state Senate and congressional districts, could also make it more difficult to gerrymander the state.Bickerstaff, Heath 2020, pp. 212–213 In the past, most of the state's redistricting reforms have come from the federal level, such as through court mandates of equal population among districts or through the Voting Rights Act.Bickerstaff, Heath 2020, pp. 205–207 More recently, however, federal legislation to ban partisan gerrymandering has failed to pass, and the Supreme Court has refused to overturn the state's maps.{{Cite news |last=Hulse |first=Carl |date=2022-01-20 |title=After a day of debate, the voting rights bill is blocked in the Senate. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/19/us/politics/senate-voting-rights-filibuster.html |access-date=2023-05-23 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316031620/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/19/us/politics/senate-voting-rights-filibuster.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Chung |first=Andrew |date=2022-11-21 |title=U.S. Supreme Court rejects challenge to Republican-drawn Texas electoral district |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-rejects-challenge-republican-drawn-texas-electoral-district-2022-11-21/ |access-date=2023-05-23 |archive-date=May 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230523022025/https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-rejects-challenge-republican-drawn-texas-electoral-district-2022-11-21/ |url-status=live }} At the state level, the legislature is seen as unlikely to give up its own redistricting power, and Texas has no citizen-led ballot initiative process to bypass it.{{Cite web |last=Ramsey |first=Ross |date=2021-11-03 |title=Analysis: Texas legislators aren't ready to take self-interest out of redistricting |url=https://www.texastribune.org/2021/11/03/texas-redistricting-commission/ |access-date=2023-03-18 |website=The Texas Tribune |language=en |archive-date=March 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318181405/https://www.texastribune.org/2021/11/03/texas-redistricting-commission/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Andrew Schneider |date=2019-12-30 |title=An Independent Redistricting Board In Texas? Unlikely, But Not Impossible. |url=https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2019/12/30/354355/an-independent-redistricting-board-in-texas-unlikely-but-not-impossible/ |access-date=2023-03-18 |website=Houston Public Media |language=en-US |archive-date=March 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318181409/https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/2019/12/30/354355/an-independent-redistricting-board-in-texas-unlikely-but-not-impossible/ |url-status=live }}

• Elections in Texas
• Political party strength in Texas
• 2020 United States Census
• 2020 United States redistricting cycle

{{Notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• Galderisi, Peter F. Redistricting in the New Millennium (2005): 275–311.
• Bickerstaff, Steve. Lines in the Sand: Congressional Redistricting in Texas and the Downfall of Tom Delay (2007).
• Keith, Gary A. Rotten Boroughs, Political Thickets, and Legislative Donnybrooks: Redistricting in Texas (2013).
• Bickerstaff, Steve. Heath, C. Robert (ed.). Gerrymandering Texas (2020).

{{Redistricting (US)}}

{{Texas}}

Category:Redistricting in the United States

Category:Politics of Texas

Category:Government of Texas