Chance of an April primary date 'is out,' state party reps say

"Looks like April is out," Texas Democratic Party Spokesman Anthony Gutierrez said. "May is the next realistic date."

Both parties are set to hold their conventions in June, but a late primary would require changes to election rules. Gutierrez and Republican Party of Texas Spokesman Chris Elam said the next step in the process includes negotiations between the parties and the secretary of state on how best to accommodate a May 29 primary.

The court did not say when a decision on a date would be made.

Results of the 2010 census indicating the state's population had earned Texas four more congressional seats sparked chaos in the already tricky redistricting process.

Federal lawsuits have since halted the enactment of new maps drawn by the Republican-dominated state Legislature, originally delaying the primaries from March 6 to April 3.

Texas is among the states that must get preclearance on redistricting maps by the U.S. Department of Justice under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, according to the Texas Legislative Council. However, the state did not submit the maps to the DOJ for preclearance and instead petitioned a U.S. District Court for a declaratory judgment validating the redistricting plans.

The petition was denied and a U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. held a trial Jan. 17–31. The court issued a statement saying a decision was not likely in February.

Meanwhile, separate lawsuits were filed in state and federal courts by opponents of the redistricting maps who claim the maps violate the U.S. Constitution as well as Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by diluting minority voting power.

Some of the lawsuits were consolidated and heard in September by a U.S. District Court in San Antonio. The three-judge panel redrew the state's maps and submitted them to the Supreme Court as proposed interim plans.

On Jan. 20, after hearing arguments on interim maps, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the San Antonio court's maps citing the insertion of the judges' own preferences. The court instructed them to redraw the maps to more closely resemble the state's plan but to not incorporate legal defects.

The San Antonio federal court rejected interim redistricting maps proposed by Abbott on Feb. 6 as the deadline to reach a compromise in time to preserve an April 3 deadline passed. While the April 3 primary deadline passed, there had still been hope for a primary in April.