There is a second chance still in play.
A federal judge based in Tarrant County denied a request to keep the old commissioners precinct map in place until the redistricting lawsuit is finished. Judge Reed O’Conner, who presides over the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Fort Worth, filed the decision on Friday, allowing the redrawn map to stay in place.
The federal lawsuit was filed against the county, the Commissioners Court and County Judge Tim O’Hare by a group of Black and Latino voters the day after the map was voted in on June 3. They claim the map disenfranchises voters and intentionally dilutes voters of color. The group filed for an injunction on June 27 reasoning that the case would go their way in the end.
The plea for a preliminary injunction was denied because the court does not agree that the plaintiffs will win the case based on the claims that the new precinct map violates the Voting Rights Act and the First, Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments.
O’Conner agreed with the defendants that the violation of the First Amendment claim was unfounded and dismissed that part of the lawsuit. The plaintiffs’ claimed that the map violates the First Amendment by disenfranchising some voters and treating them unequally due to their race and viewpoint.
See here, here, and here for background on the first lawsuit. I noted before that the First Amendment claims made by the plaintiffs here mirrored those made by plaintiffs in a since-withdrawn lawsuit over Harris County Commissioners Court redistricting in 2021. Perhaps another judge might see it differently, but I was skeptical of that claim then and I can’t say I’m surprised to see it rejected here. As far as the rest of the suit goes, well, I wouldn’t have expected much from Reed O’Conner. I’ll just leave it at that.
As this story notes, there is a second lawsuit, which I noted here. That one is in state court and includes allegations that Tarrant County violated the Texas Open Meetings Act in its haste to adopt the new map. There will be a hearing over this request for an injunction on September 25. If that one fails, there’s almost certainly no hope to stop this. The Texan has more.