Fifth Circuit Ruling Enables GOP Mid‑Decade Redraw

A recent Fifth Circuit ruling barred the use of so‑called “coalition districts,” overturning roughly four decades of precedent and making it harder to use multiracial coalition remedies to challenge discriminatory congressional maps. The decision cleared legal cover for Republican lawmakers to pursue a mid‑decade Texas redistricting that analysts say could add as many as five GOP U.S. House seats. Conservatives praised the ruling, while Democrats, civil‑rights groups and the Justice Department denounced it as a major rollback of voting‑rights protections, and national Democratic leaders including Barack Obama and Eric Holder have discussed response options. The ruling has already reverberated: Missouri has enacted a new GOP congressional map even as volunteers race to gather referendum signatures to block it, and states such as California are pursuing ballot measures and other efforts to counter similar moves. With courts, the DOJ, state executives and legislatures all central to the dispute, advocates warn the coming months could determine control of the U.S. House and reshape the legal terrain for future voting‑rights challenges amid rising independent voter ranks.