By MARK SHERMAN<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Texas on Friday asked the Supreme Court<\/a> for an emergency order to be allowed to use a congressional redistricting plan pushed by President Donald Trump that is favorable to Republicans in the 2026 elections despite a lower court ruling<\/a> that it likely discriminates on the basis of race.<\/p>\n The state is calling on the high court to intervene to avoid confusion as congressional primary elections approach in March. The justices have blocked past lower-court rulings in congressional redistricting cases, most recently in Alabama and Louisiana, that came several months before elections.<\/p>\n Texas redrew its congressional map in the summer as part of Trump\u2019s efforts<\/a> to preserve a slim Republican majority in the House in next year\u2019s elections, touching off a nationwide redistricting battle. The new redistricting map was engineered to give Republicans five additional House seats, but a panel of federal judges in El Paso ruled 2-1 Tuesday that the civil rights groups that challenged the map on behalf of Black and Hispanic voters were likely to win their case.<\/p>\n If the ruling holds for now, Texas could be forced to hold elections next year using the map drawn by the GOP-controlled Legislature in 2021 based on the 2020 census.<\/p>\n Texas was the first state to meet Trump\u2019s demands in what has become an expanding national battle<\/a> over redistricting. Republicans drew the state\u2019s new map to give the GOP five additional seats, and Missouri<\/a> and North Carolina<\/a> followed with new maps adding an additional Republican seat each. To counter those moves, California voters approved<\/a> a ballot initiative to give Democrats an additional five seats there.<\/p>\n The redrawn maps are facing court challenges in California, Missouri and North Carolina.<\/p>\n