With just 90 days to go until Texas’s March 3, 2026 primary elections, and with legal battles over congressional maps heating up in both Texas and Wisconsin, the nation’s election landscape is looking anything but settled. From El Paso to Madison, candidates, voters, and courts are all facing a whirlwind of deadlines, uncertainty, and high-stakes maneuvering that could reshape how—and where—Americans cast their ballots next year.
In El Paso, Texas, the countdown is on. According to the El Paso Herald Post, the last day for candidates to file for office is rapidly approaching: Monday, December 8, 2025. For voters, the critical date to circle is February 2, 2026—the final day to register to participate in the primaries, where most of the county’s key offices will effectively be decided. The urgency is palpable, with election officials, campaign teams, and engaged citizens all racing against the clock.
But the usual pre-election hustle has been complicated by a legal tug-of-war over the state’s political boundaries. For five Texas House seats, candidates are facing a unique conundrum: they’re not even sure which district they’ll be running in. The source of this confusion? A fierce dispute over which set of congressional maps—drawn in 2021 or 2025—should govern the upcoming contests.
Last month, a panel of three judges labeled the 2025 maps as “racially gerrymandered,” ordering the state to revert to the 2021 version. However, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito stepped in, pausing that order and temporarily restoring the 2025 maps. As of now, the full Supreme Court has yet to weigh in, leaving both candidates and voters in limbo. The El Paso Herald Post notes that, while congressional hopefuls in El Paso itself aren’t directly affected, five Texas House seats elsewhere remain shrouded in uncertainty.
Despite the confusion, a growing field of candidates has already thrown their hats into the ring. For U.S. Congress Texas District 16, Raul “Bullet” Castaneda (R) and incumbent Veronica Escobar (D) have declared their intentions. The race for Texas’s 23rd congressional seat is even more crowded, with John Cudd (D), Gretel Enck (D), Santos Limon (D), Peter White (D), Zeke Enriquez (R), Tony Gonzalez (R), and Brandon Herrera (R) all vying for the nomination. Down the ballot, familiar names like Mary Gonzalez (D incumbent) and Humberto Perez (R) are set to compete for Texas House District 75, while incumbents and newcomers alike are lining up for other legislative and judicial posts.
At the county level, the contests are equally robust. Guadalupe Giner (I), Ricardo Samaniego (D incumbent), and Minerva Torres Shelton (R) are among those seeking the role of El Paso County Judge. County Commissioner races, judicial seats, and even constable positions are all attracting attention, with several candidates already making their campaigns public. As El Paso Herald Post reports, some races have yet to reveal all their contenders—David Stout, the Democratic incumbent for County Commissioner Precinct No. 2, recently acknowledged on Facebook that he has drawn an opponent, though the challenger’s identity remains under wraps.
For El Paso’s engaged electorate, the message is clear: if you want your voice heard in these pivotal primaries, you must be registered by February 2, 2026. The outcome of these contests will, in many cases, determine the county’s leadership for years to come.
Yet the Lone Star State isn’t the only place where political lines are under the microscope. Hundreds of miles away, Wisconsin is embroiled in its own high-profile legal battles over congressional maps. According to WisPolitics, those seeking to overturn Wisconsin’s current congressional map as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander are pushing for a hearing before a three-judge panel as early as December 15, 2025. Their argument? “Time is of the essence” if a new map is to be in place before the August 2026 congressional primaries.
The plaintiffs, represented by Democratic attorneys, first moved for summary judgment on September 5, 2025, and have been pressing for a swift resolution ever since. They’re calling for a December 10 deadline for opposing filings and want the court to schedule a hearing the week of December 15—or as soon as possible thereafter. In their filing, they insist, “If the congressional map is unconstitutional, as Plaintiffs allege, then it must be enjoined and replaced sufficiently far in advance of the upcoming August 2026 congressional primaries to ensure time for a new map that comports with the Wisconsin Constitution to be selected.”
But Wisconsin’s Republican House members aren’t buying the rush. Their attorney, Misha Tseytlin, slammed the proposed schedule as “patently unreasonable,” arguing that the compressed timeline would violate due process. Tseytlin also pointed out that the GOP’s own motion to intervene in the suit hasn’t even been granted yet. If it is, Republicans intend to move to dismiss the lawsuit on several grounds. Instead of the plaintiffs’ expedited calendar, GOP attorneys are asking for a status conference to hash out a more “reasonable” briefing schedule.
Meanwhile, a separate three-judge panel is handling a related lawsuit targeting the state’s congressional lines as an anti-competitive gerrymander. That panel has set a December 12 hearing to discuss a timeline for that case, with Dane County Judge David Conway establishing a December 9 deadline for would-be intervenors to join the suit.
The legal wrangling in Wisconsin is just the latest chapter in a long-running national debate over gerrymandering—the practice of drawing electoral districts to favor one party or group. Both sides are digging in their heels, with Democrats and voting rights advocates arguing for swift action to protect fair representation, while Republicans insist that due process and a deliberate approach are essential to uphold the law and avoid chaos.
Back in Texas, the uncertainty over district boundaries echoes the broader national struggle. The three-judge panel’s finding that the 2025 maps were “racially gerrymandered” underscores the high stakes for communities whose political power can be diluted or amplified by how lines are drawn. Justice Alito’s intervention has only added another layer of unpredictability, as candidates in five Texas House seats must decide which district—2021 or 2025—they should file in, all while the Supreme Court’s final word remains pending.
For voters, the stakes couldn’t be higher. The outcome of these legal battles will shape not only who gets elected in 2026, but also how communities are represented for years to come. With deadlines looming and court decisions hanging in the balance, the only certainty is that the road to next year’s elections will be anything but smooth.
As candidates scramble, lawyers argue, and judges deliberate, one thing is clear: the fight over America’s political maps is far from over, and its outcome will reverberate from local courthouses to the halls of Congress.
