North Texas representatives plan for 2026 election as new congressional map in turmoil
NTX reps plan for election as new map under fire
With a Supreme Court battle looming, the federal court ruling blocking Texas' new congressional map is adding uncertainty to the 2026 election.
DALLAS - With a Supreme Court battle looming, the federal court ruling blocking Texas' new congressional map is adding uncertainty to the 2026 election.
Members of Congress with districts up in the air need to figure out what to do, when it's time to decide whether to run, and where to run.
Texas map confusion
Texas congressional map
The latest:
Under the 2025 congressional map that is currently blocked, two of the five district changes are in North Texas, targeting Democrats Marc Veasey and Juliie Johnson.
This week, the Trump administration took a midterm blow when a three-judge panel struck down the Texas GOP 2025 Congressional Map.
By design, that map would likely give Republicans five new seats in Congress.
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North Texas representatives' plans
What they're saying:
The 32nd district, now headed for a possible Supreme Court review, is Johnson's seat.
"The Supreme Court would have to act with rapid pace and overturn a fact-finding mission, which just has not been historically their precedent to do in these kinds of cases. So I'm pretty confident that we'll be running for reelection in the 2026 cycle on the maps that have been in place since 2021," Johnson said.
Fort Worth congressman Marc Veasey represents the 33rd district. His seat also changed on the 2025 GOP map, setting up possible primary contests that would not exist under the old map.
"I'm going to run under 33 as it stretches between Tarrant and Dallas counties. If something changes, you will have to see when we get there. I don't have a crystal ball," Veasey said.
Proposed Texas redistricting map would drastically shift Democrat-held seats
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump said he would like to gain five congressional seats through a midterm redistricting effort in the state.
Johnson expressed similar plans.
"The way this works is you have a map, and it's the map until it's not. And the new maps were the maps, and now they're not. And now we're back to the old maps," Johnson said.
When will the Supreme Court decide?
What's next:
Both members of congress think the Supreme Court will rule before the Dec. 8 filing deadline.
"Let's wait and see what happens. I expect for things to move pretty quickly here," Veasey said.
The other side:
The dissenting judge just dropped a 100-page dissent. It was packed with political criticism for the other two judges.
Judge Jerry Smith said: "The main winners here are George Soros and Gavin Newsom. The obvious losers are the people of Texas."
The Source: Information in this article came from FOX 4 interviews with North Texas representatives Marc Veasey and Julie Johnson.