The Supreme Court gave an early win to Texas Republicans in the fight over redrawing election districts and the balance of power in Congress, ruling that the district lines should mostly follow those set by GOP lawmakers and not those by judges who drew new boundaries to favor Latinos.

…While Friday’s ruling gives Texas officials much of what they sought, it is not a final victory for them. In addition to the court in Texas, another special federal court in Washington is also weighing legal challenges to the Texas plan.

“This is a train wreck of a case. This was a significant victory for Texas today, but the case will probably come back to the Supreme Court again,” said Richard Pildes, an election law expert at New York University.

Latino activists said they were cheered that the high court did not give Texas a green light to put into effect now its GOP-friendly state plan. The justices repeated their long-standing view that a “new election map cannot be used” in a state such as Texas until it has been pre-cleared.

Because that issue is still pending before the three-judge court in Washington, the justices told the court in San Antonio to try again to draw an “interim” map for Texas that could be used in the 2012 elections while the court in Washington addresses the pre-clearance issue.

Nina Perales, an attorney for the MALDEF in San Antonio, said she remained optimistic the new Texas map would include more districts likely to elect Latinos. She said the trial in San Antonio has shown the state’s plan discriminates against minority voters. “We created a strong record and look forward to the redraw process under the guidance given by the Supreme Court,” she said.

Texas Atty. Gen. Greg Abbott disagreed and predicted the state’s plan would prevail. “The court made clear in a strongly worded opinion that the district court must give deference to elected leaders of this state,” Abbott said in a statement.

Jesus Christ. The major issue I take with this whole case is that it’s perpetuating the idea that minority districts are inherently Democratic districts. Creating a minority district in an area with a clearly established minority community of interest is not gerrymandering. It is done to ensure that minority community members will be able to elect officials who will best represent and address their concerns.

The maps originally proposed by the Texas State Legislature split up many minority communities—and not just Latino communities—in many areas of the state. For instance, Fort Bend County’s Asian American community, which is one of the most rapidly growing Asian American populations in the state, is split in two in the legislature’s map. The legislature treated a minority coalition district in Houston similarly. 

Instead of splitting up minority communities for political advantage, maybe Republicans should instead try to actually address the needs of these communities in their campaigns.