Texas voters are choosing House members under new district lines for the first time in a general election, putting to a test a map its sponsor said was designed to improve Republican performance statewide.
Known as PlanC2333, the plan replaced Texas’ 2021 congressional map and redrew all 38 U.S. House districts. The Legislature passed H.B. 4 on Aug. 23, 2025, and Gov. Greg Abbott signed it Aug. 29. The new districts apply to the 2026 primaries and general election for the Congress that begins in January 2027; members elected under the old map remain in office until then.
During House debate on Aug. 20, 2025, bill sponsor Texas state Rep. Todd Hunter said lawmakers aimed to “increase more Republicans.” The new boundaries put U.S. Rep. Al Green and U.S. Rep. Christian Dashaun Menefee in the same District 18 Democratic primary. Menefee won the May 26 runoff with 34,090 votes, or 69.3%, to Green’s 15,101, or 30.7%. The official canvass recorded 49,191 votes cast. The Associated Press reported that the two had represented neighboring districts before the redraw.
Texas’ official election page lists Menefee in District 18 and Democrat Leticia Gutierrez against Republican Alex Mealer in District 9.
A U.S. Supreme Court order in Dec. 2025 placed Texas at the start of the midterm mapmaking sequence and noted that California and North Carolina adopted new lines afterward. EconoTimes previously covered a California race affected by the map dispute.
The map’s use was challenged in court. A federal district court blocked it on a preliminary basis in Nov. 2025. The Supreme Court stayed that injunction in Dec. and reversed the district court’s judgment on April 27, 2026. The case tracker says the underlying challenge remains pending.
In a separate April 29 opinion in Louisiana v. Callais, the Supreme Court said Section 2 liability requires evidence supporting a strong inference of intentional discrimination, with plaintiffs required to separate racial effects from partisan politics. The Nov. 3 general election is the next electoral measure of how the new boundaries shape Texas’ House contests.
