El Paso, Texas - The NAACP is suing Texas over new electoral maps designed to deliver five additional US House seats to Republicans in the 2026 midterms.

The NAACP and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed the lawsuit Tuesday in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, El Paso Division.

Texas Republicans on Saturday passed redrawn maps intended to boost the prospects of the GOP maintaining its majority in the US House after the 2026 elections.

The NAACP's complaint, which names Governor Greg Abbott and Secretary of State Jane Nelson, argues that the new maps violate the US Constitution and the Voting Rights Act in discriminating against Black and brown Texans.

"The state of Texas is only 40% white, but white voters control over 73% of the state's congressional seats," Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, said in a statement.

"It's quite obvious that Texas's effort to redistrict mid-decade, before next year's midterm elections, is racially motivated. The state's intent here is to reduce the members of Congress who represent Black communities, and that, in and of itself, is unconstitutional," Johnson added.

The redistricting push has been met with stiff resistance in Texas, but those efforts were not enough to stop the state legislature's Republican majority from pushing through its agenda.

Texas Democrats resorted to leaving the state in July in a bid to stop the redistricting scheme by denying the quorum needed to pass the legislation.

Democratic-led California has led the charge in fighting back with its own redistricting plan. The retaliatory Election Rigging Response Act, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom last week, has teed up a November voter referendum on new congressional maps that would neutralize the Republican power grab. The move has sparked multiple GOP lawsuits.

The NAACP has expressed support for the California response and urged other states to follow suit.

"We now see just how far extremist leaders are willing to go to push African Americans back toward a time when we were denied full personhood and equal rights," NAACP Texas President Gary Bledsoe said.

"We call on Texans of every background to recognize the dangers of this moment. Our democracy depends on ensuring that every person is counted fully, valued equally, and represented fairly," Bledsoe continued.

"We are prepared to fight this injustice at every level. Our future depends on it."