Justices Reject Appeal in Elections Case

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to block a federal judicial panel’s ruling ordering new elections in 13 of Texas’ 30 congressional districts this fall. The justices, without comment, denied requests by Texas House Speaker Pete Laney and six Democratic House members to block the panel’s order and allow elections to proceed under old boundaries in the 13 districts. The affected districts, in the Houston and Dallas areas, were redrawn by the judicial panel after the Supreme Court in June declared three of the districts unconstitutional because the lines were drawn to favor minority candidates. The judges also redesigned 10 neighboring districts. Under the plan set forward by a three-judge federal panel in Houston last month, an open primary will be held on Nov. 5 in the 13 districts, with runoffs scheduled for Dec. 10 in districts where no one emerges with at least 51% of the vote.