On Monday, November 21, the Supreme Court declined to hear a case claiming that Senate District 10 in Fort Worth was purposefully arranged by Republican legislators to diminish minority political power.
The case was brought by a group of black and Latino voters seeking a review of the decision by a three-judge panel from the district court that District 10 was not gerrymandered.
The plaintiffs argued that the redrawn boundaries of District 10 resulted from intentional racial discrimination in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection under the law.
State Senator Beverly Powell, a Democrat, currently holds the Senate seat for District 10. However, after the reapportionment following the most recent census, Senator Powell dropped her reelection bid due to the district becoming “unwinnable.”
On November 8th, Republican Phil King won the District 10 seat after running unopposed.
In 2021, minority plaintiffs from the area sued the Texas legislature, accusing them of “splintering” their district into smaller parts where white voters would dominate. A three-judge panel heard arguments during a four-day-long trial.
Judges accepted that the redistricting may “disproportionately affect minority voters” but claimed that the plaintiffs could provide no evidence that the changes were based on race.
Last December, the U.S. Justice Department sued Texas over similar accusations of gerrymandering districts to dilute black and Latino votes. Again, a three-judge panel ruled that although minority voters could be negatively affected, there was no evidence that race was the basis of the redistricting.
On December 7, the Supreme Court will hear a landmark case that could give state legislatures far more power over federal elections by limiting the ability of state courts to review their actions.
The appeal by Republican state lawmakers comes after a February decision by North Carolina’s top court to throw out a map delineating the state’s 14 congressional districts, which was approved last year by the Republican-controlled state legislature.
