The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, El Paso Division, issued an order on November 18, enjoining the use of the congressional redistricting plan enacted by the 89th Legislature, 2nd Called Session, (H.B.4, PlanC2333) for the 2026 elections.
On December 4, the U.S. Supreme Court granted an application by the State of Texas for a stay of the district court’s order, pending appeal. PlanC2333 is again in effect for congressional elections, beginning with the 2026 primaries, pending the Supreme Court’s action on the appeal.

Apportionment and Ideal Population

Apportionment

The federal constitution calls for reapportionment of congressional seats according to population from a decennial census (Section 2, Article I). Reapportionment is the allocation of a set number of districts among established units of government. The 435 congressional seats are reapportioned among the 50 states after each decennial census according to the method of equal proportions.

On April 26, 2021, the United States Census Bureau reported results of congressional reapportionment from the 2020 Census. According to these results, Texas will add two new congressional districts for a total of 38 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives for the 118th Congress.

Ideal Population

One of the primary requirements governing redistricting is that districts of a given type must have equal or nearly equal populations. Ideal district population is the population a district would have if all districts in a plan have equal populations, and it is determined by dividing the total state population by the number of districts in the plan. Along with the congressional apportionment results, the U.S. Census Bureau reported the total resident population of each state from the 2020 Census. The population of Texas increased by 3,999,944 or 15.9% since the 2010 Census for a total of 29,145,505. The detailed population data for small areas needed for redistricting are expected to be released by August 16, 2021, but the ideal district population for each plan type (state senate, state house, congressional, and SBOE) can be determined with the total state population.

	2020 Texas: 29,145,505		2010 Texas: 25,145,561
	Districts	Ideal Population	Districts	Ideal Population
State Senate	31	940,178	31	811,147
State House	150	194,303	150	167,367
U.S. Congress	38	766,987	36	698,488
SBOE	15	1,943,034	15	1,676,371