U.S. Justice Department Sues Texas Over Redistricting Congressional Maps

AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fired back against Biden's Justice Department suing the State of Texas over newly drawn political maps Monday.  

"The Department of Justice's absurd lawsuit against our state is the Biden Administration's latest ploy to control Texas voters. I am confident that our legislature's redistricting decisions will be proven lawful, and this preposterous attempt to sway democracy will fail." Paxton announced on Twitter.  

According to reports, The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Monday that claims Texas lawmakers discriminated against voters of color by denying Latino and Black voters equal opportunities to participate in the voting process and elect their preferred candidates.

Texas has been sued over redistricting several times over the last 30 years.  The Lone Star State generally prevails in the federal lawsuits.  

The justice department suit also asks the federal court to block the state from conducting the upcoming March primaries under the challenged maps.  That would affect the March 1, 2022 elections for Tom Green County offices including the race for County Judge, County Commissioner, and Justice of the Peace.

At a press conference Monday, U.S. Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said the maps passed into law by the Republican-controlled Legislature showed an "overall disregard for the massive minority population growth" the state experienced over the last decade.

In its complaint, the DOJ takes specific aim at the redrawing of the 23rd Congressional District in West Texas, a long fought-over district, which it argues was reconfigured by switching out voters and splitting precincts so that the final product would "eliminate a Latino electoral opportunity." Texas CD-23 stretches along the border from San Antonio's western suburbs through Del Rio to the east side of El Paso.