After Texas adopted a map that gives Republicans five seats, California wants to shift five Republican seats to Democrats. Florida and Virginia remain in flux, so their dominance in November remains uncertain.
President Trump reacts after Indiana Senate rejects Republican redistricting plan
The Indiana Senate rejected a Republican redistricting bill as President Donald Trump and leaders responded with both sharp criticism and praise.
WASHINGTON – Seven other states are also redrawing their maps to benefit partisan interests, as Republicans and Democrats continue to fight to gain an advantage in 2026 legislative elections after the Supreme Court refused to review California’s redistricting plan.
On February 4, the high court refused to hear a challenge to a California ballot initiative that would redraw the map to shift five House seats from Republicans to Democrats. The decision followed a December decision that allowed Texas to use a map that could flip five seats from Democrats to Republicans.
Competition is fierce in the House, with Democrats potentially able to take back control of the chamber from Republicans by flipping three seats. The National Conference of State Legislatures calls this the largest redistricting to occur in mid-decade since the 1800s. Some states are trying to redraw their maps to give the first party one more seat.
The stakes are high, as a change in the House majority from Republicans to Democrats could lead to an even bigger debate over spending and further investigations into President Donald Trump after two government shutdowns in a year.
There are 218 Republicans and 214 Democrats in the House of Representatives. Three seats previously held by Republicans in Georgia and California and Democrats in New Jersey are now vacant. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate will be up for grabs in the 2026 midterm elections.
The movement began after President Trump urged Republican-led states to redraw their maps to gain more seats. In response, Democratic-led states began their own redistricting efforts, as illustrated by California’s response to Texas.
“Donald Trump said he was ‘deserving’ of five more seats in Texas,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said on social media on February 4. “He started this redistricting war. He lost. And he will lose again in November.”
The Census counts the U.S. population every 10 years and determines the number of House seats each state has under the Constitution. Congressional maps are traditionally redrawn as population changes. The movement to redraw the map in the mid-2010s is unusual. But the Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that racially discriminatory maps can be challenged, but partisan maps cannot.
Four Republican-led states are still working on new maps.
- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called a special redistricting session in April that analysts said could hurt three to five Democratic incumbents. Republicans already control 20 of the state’s 28 U.S. House seats after lawmakers approved a 2021 map that flips four Democratic seats. Redistricting efforts face a legal hurdle in the form of a constitutional amendment that prohibits lawmakers from drawing districts purely for partisan advantage.
- In Ohio, a new map is needed in 2026 after the previous map was approved without Democratic votes due to an anomaly in state law. Republicans hold 10 of the state’s 15 U.S. House seats. The redistricting commission, which is made up of five Republicans and two Democrats, unanimously approved maps in October that increase the chances that Republicans will flip two Democratic districts.
- Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed new maps in September that removed the Democratic-held Kansas City seat. Republicans currently hold six of the state’s eight U.S. House seats. Several groups have filed lawsuits challenging the map’s legality as opponents seek to force voting on the map.
- North Carolina’s Republican-led Legislature approved new maps in October aimed at flipping Democratic seats. Under state law, Democratic Gov. Josh Stein had no say in the process. Republicans hold 10 of the state’s 14 U.S. House seats.
Two Republican-led redistricting efforts failed.
- In Indiana, the Republican-controlled Senate, in an unusual rebuke of President Trump, rejected a map that would have given Republicans an advantage in all nine House seats. Democrats currently hold two seats.
- In Kansas, Republicans abandoned a Trump-backed redistricting effort after state House Speaker Dan Hawkins said in January there was not enough support to overcome Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto threat. Republicans hold three of the state’s four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Three states are working on new maps that could help Democrats:
- In January, Virginia’s Democratic-led Legislature approved a constitutional amendment that would give lawmakers the power to redraw the state’s legislative map and flip up to four seats. But the measure still must face state voters in a special election in the spring. A state judge blocked the map in January, and Democrats appealed the decision. Democrats currently hold six of the state’s 11 U.S. House seats.
- In Utah, a state judge threw out a map drawn by Republicans as illegally partisan. Instead, the justices implemented an alternative plan that would flip one of the state’s four Republican-held seats to Democrats.
- In New York state, a state judge in January ordered an independent redistricting commission to redraw a Republican-controlled district based in Staten Island, potentially giving Democrats a chance to flip the seat. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), whose seat is being contested, has appealed the ruling. Democrats hold 19 of the state’s 26 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Democratic-led redistricting efforts in Maryland have stalled. The state Legislature on February 2nd drew a new map for the state’s only Republican seat. However, state Senate President Bill Ferguson said he does not plan to bring the bill to a vote because it does not have enough support on the floor.
Contributed by: Reuters
