As a former voting rights lawyer, I want to speak about an issue that is deeply personal to me. In the coming weeks, the Supreme Court could issue a decision that flat-out guts the Voting Rights Act: one of the most important, if not the most important, civil rights laws in modern American history. If the Court sides with Trump and Republicans, the consequences will be immediate and devastating. Such a ruling would make racial gerrymandering even easier across the country – especially in the South – giving politicians a green light to redraw congressional maps that silence Black and Brown voters, dilute community power, and entrench minority rule for years to come. I’m deeply worried about what this means for our democracy. And as a Texan, I’ve already seen exactly what happens when these protections are erased. I never planned on running for office. I went to law school to study civil rights because I believe that our democracy only works when everyone has a voice in it. And for a long time, I thought my role in that fight would stay in the courtroom. Then, in 2013, the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act. That single ruling changed my life – and it changed Texas overnight. Within hours, Republican leaders moved to implement some of the strictest voter suppression laws in the country, laws they had been waiting for years to unleash. From strict voter ID laws and barriers to voter registration to limits on mail-in voting and obstacles at polling places, the GOP has systematically made it harder for working folks and people of color to participate in our democracy. I saw it firsthand. I helped Texans track down birth certificates and Social Security cards just to exercise their fundamental right. I met voters who did everything right and were still turned away. I met people who were effectively disenfranchised because the system was designed to stop them from voting. More than a decade later, we’re still stuck in this same place. Only this time, gerrymandering is an even bigger part of their playbook and could be deployed on an even greater scale. The Supreme Court case currently before them centers on redistricting Louisiana, but its impact won’t stop there. If the Court further weakens the Voting Rights Act, Republican lawmakers around the country will feel emboldened to push even more aggressive maps that erase accountability and undermine faith in our democracy. That’s why this moment matters so much. The right to vote is preservative of all other rights. When your voice is silenced at the ballot box, everything else becomes harder to protect: your health care, your schools, your freedoms, your future. I didn’t become a voting rights lawyer because it was easy. I did it because it was necessary. And I’m running for Congress for the same reason. In the House, I will fight to restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act, ban partisan gerrymandering nationwide, and make it easier for Americans to participate in our democracy – not harder. Because the hard truth is that I don’t trust Trump’s stacked Supreme Court to protect our rights. And I certainly don’t trust politicians who are willing to rig the system to stay in power. But here’s a message of hope before I finish this note: They wouldn’t be working so hard to stop people from voting if our votes didn’t matter. That’s why we can’t back down now. We have to keep organizing, speaking out, and fighting for a democracy that works for and represents everyone. Thank you for reading. Thank you for caring. And thank you for standing with me in this fight. – Colin Paid for by Allred for Texas
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Wednesday, January 14, 2026
Trump’s Supreme Court Is Coming for Our Voting Rights
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