Trio of Judges to Rule on Congressional Map

The same plaintiffs who are challenging the state’s 2021 congressional map are asking a panel of three federal judges to block using the new GOP-approved districts from being used in the March midterms. The Texas Tribune reported this is the first legal test for the redrawn districts, which are intended to increase the Texas congressional seats held by Republicans by five.

The hearing began Wednesday in El Paso and is expected to last nine days. Voting rights lawsuits are initially heard by two district judges and one circuit judge. Their ruling can only be appealed directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Several lawsuits were filed after Texas legislators redrew voting maps in 2021 following the decennial census. Those suits were consolidated into one case, League of United Latin American Citizens versus Abbott. As with the 2021 lawsuit, the latest complaint claims the new map harms the voting rights of Latino and Black voters.

Time is running short, with the filing deadline for candidates on Dec. 8.

“All of this, every part of this, is about the clock right now,” said Justin Levitt, a voting rights expert at Loyola Law School. “The plaintiffs want an answer as soon as possible. Texas wants to stall like crazy. All of this is about what’s going to get a court to deliver an answer before the next election.”

Texas Stock Exchange Gets SEC Approval The Dallas-based Texas Stock Exchange has received approval to operate as a national securities exchange from the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, KERANews reported. The announcement came exactly a year after Gov. Greg Abbott celebrated the exchange’s creation. TXSE is the first exchange to receive SEC approval in decades. It will launch trading and corporate listings in 2026. “Today’s approval marks a pivotal moment in our effort to build a world-class exchange rooted in alignment, transparency, and partnership with issuers and investors,” said James H Lee, founder and CEO of TXSE.

Its mission, according to a news release, is to “reverse the decades-long decline in the number of U.S. public companies by reducing the burden of going and staying public.”