GALVESTON, T.X. (June 17, 2026) — As the nation prepares to mark Juneteenth — a day commemorating the promise of Black freedom and the long fight to make it real — Black and Latino voters in Galveston, Texas, are asking a federal court to hold their county accountable for intentionally dismantling the only district in which they had a meaningful voice in local government.
This week, three local NAACP branches, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Council 151, and individual Black and Latino voters filed a supplemental brief in a 2022 redistricting case asking the court to rule in their favor and find that Galveston County’s 2021 voting map intentionally eliminated the only majority-minority district, impacting their political participation.
Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ), Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP), and Wilkie Farr & Gallagher LLP filed a lawsuit on the plaintiffs’ behalf in April 2022, and the case was consolidated with other plaintiffs, including the U.S. Department of Justice, which was later dismissed from the case.
After a trial in October 2023, the judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, finding the 2021 enacted plan violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. A panel of the Fifth Circuit Court initially affirmed that ruling, then reheard the matter before the entire court (en banc), overruling decades of precedent to hold that the Voting Rights Act does not protect minority coalitions in choosing candidates. The current case now centers on remaining claims, not reached by the trial court in its initial order, including claims of racial gerrymandering and intentional discrimination in violation of the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
The filing this week argues Galveston County’s case is different from other redistricting fights playing out across the country post-Callais. In many cases, officials claim they were drawing maps for political, not racial, reasons, which can make discrimination harder to prove. But Galveston County Commissioners said on the record that politics did not drive the districts challenged in the lawsuit. They were told they could keep the majority-minority district and still draw a legal map, but they chose not to, in a process the court has already called “mean-spirited” and “egregious.”
“As we celebrate Juneteenth in Galveston County, the birthplace of this historic holiday, I am reminded that freedom and representation go hand in hand,” said Lucretia Lofton, a Galveston County resident and one of the plaintiffs in the case. “Testifying in the Galveston County redistricting case was an opportunity to stand up for the principle that every community deserves to be heard and fairly represented. Our ancestors fought to secure our freedom; it is our responsibility to protect our voice. For me, participating in this case was about honoring that legacy and helping ensure that future generations inherit a democracy where every vote and every community matter.”
“Juneteenth reminds us that the promise of freedom for Black and Brown communities has always required determination and resilience,” said Hilary Harris Klein, Senior Counsel for Voting Rights at SCSJ. “What happened in Galveston County was a deliberate effort to take away a community’s political voice, and that evidence has not changed. We are asking this court to rule in favor of our plaintiffs.”
“The fight for representation and for voting rights is never truly complete, and recent Supreme Court cases will try to block our movement. In honor of Juneteenth, and generations of civil rights activists who have fought so hard for fair voting rights, the Texas Civil Rights Project is proud to fight alongside Galvestonians for fair representation,” said Sarah Xiyi Chen, Voting Rights Senior Supervising Attorney at TCRP.
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Southern Coalition for Social Justice came together in 2007 to give Black, Brown, and low-income people better resources in the fight for justice across the South. We are lawyers, social scientists, and communications professionals working to dismantle racism and oppression in the criminal legal system, in our environment, and at the ballot box. Learn more at southerncoalition.org and follow our work on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
The Texas Civil Rights Project is boldly serving the movement for equality and justice in and out of the courts. We use our tools of litigation and legal advocacy to protect and advance the civil rights of everyone in Texas, and we partner with communities across the state to serve the rising movement for social justice. We undertake our work with a vision of a Texas in which all communities can thrive with dignity, justice and without fear.