Former Obama-era Attorney General Eric Holder accused Texas Republicans on Monday of violating the federal Voting Rights Act by redrawing congressional district maps that he claims unfairly disadvantage minorities.
Appearing on MSNBC’s The Weeknight, Holder claimed that the proposed Texas congressional map clearly violates federal law, particularly targeting Latino and African-American voters by diluting their electoral influence. Holder vowed aggressive legal action against Texas Republicans, alleging their latest redistricting efforts reflect blatant racial gerrymandering.
Holder argued strongly that the population growth driving Texas’s recent gain of two additional congressional seats comes largely from an increase in Latino residents. He highlighted that 90 percent of the state’s new population growth was due to an influx of minorities, primarily Latinos. Yet, Holder criticized the Texas legislature for creating two new majority-white districts following the latest census.
“There’s no question that these maps violate the Voting Rights Act,” Holder declared forcefully during the interview. “They dilute the power of people of color in Texas, Hispanics and African-Americans.”
Holder pointed out that his group was already in court challenging Texas’s prior congressional maps from both the 2011 and 2020 redistricting cycles. He emphasized that if the new proposal goes forward, adding five additional redrawn districts, it would further strengthen his group’s existing lawsuits, making the case for voting rights violations even stronger.
“If you do gerrymandering and fool around with five more districts, you’re just going to exacerbate that which we are already challenging,” Holder warned. “I think [it would] make the lawsuit that we have even stronger.”
Holder’s comments signal a potential escalation in legal fights over voting rights and election fairness in Texas—one that could become a critical battleground ahead of upcoming elections.
Texas Republicans, however, argue their maps are drawn fairly and lawfully, and that Holder’s accusations represent a partisan effort to influence Texas politics through litigation. GOP leaders defend their approach as simply reflecting legitimate demographic changes and the traditional redistricting process following census results.
The stakes are high, as Texas remains a critical state for both parties. Republicans view Holder’s legal threats as politically motivated attempts to undermine their electoral strength, while Democrats support Holder’s claims, hoping to mobilize minority voters.
This emerging legal showdown underscores the intense partisan divide over redistricting, voter representation, and election integrity. Conservatives are rallying behind the Texas legislature, standing firm against what they see as politically-driven litigation designed to weaken Republican electoral gains.
Texas Republicans remain confident that their redistricting efforts will withstand legal scrutiny and uphold conservative principles of fairness and equality under the law.
