US House campaigns are underway. Yet a redistricting battle triggered by Trump rages in some states
Candidates are campaigning and voting is underway in some primaries. Yet a national battle to redraw U.S. House districts for partisan advantage is still raging in some states ahead of the November midterm elections.
Voters in Texas and North Carolina already have cast ballots in primary elections for U.S. House districts redrawn at President Donald Trump’s urging. But the final boundaries for voting districts remain uncertain in Missouri, even though candidates already are filing for office. And they also are unclear in Virginia, where new congressional districts could hinge both on a voter referendum and court rulings.
Voting districts typically are redrawn once a decade, after each census. But Trump triggered an unusual round of mid-decade redistricting when he urged Texas Republicans last summer to redraw House districts to give the GOP an edge in the midterm elections. California Democrats reciprocated, and a tit-for-tat redistricting clash soon spread.
So far, Republicans believe they could win nine additional seats in states where they have redrawn congressional districts, while Democrats think they could gain six seats elsewhere because of redistricting. But that presumes past voting patterns hold in November. And that’s uncertain, especially since the party in power typically loses seats in the midterms and Trump faces negative approval ratings in polls.
Democrats need to gain just a few seats in November to wrest control of the House from Republicans, which could allow them to obstruct Trump’s agenda.
Redistricting battlegrounds:
Virginia
Current map: six Democrats, five Republicans
Proposed map: A new U.S. House map passed by the Democratic-led General Assembly could help Democrats win up to four additional seats. To facilitate that, lawmakers referred a constitutional amendment allowing mid-decade redistricting to an April 21 election.
Challenges: A Tazewell County judge ruled the amendment is invalid because lawmakers violated their own rules while passing it. Democrats have appealed that to the state Supreme Court. The judge also issued an injunction against holding the referendum. But state election officials said the judge’s order blocks voting only in Tazewell County, not the rest of the state.
Missouri
Current map: two Democrats, six Republicans
New map: Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a revised House map into law last fall that could help Republicans win an additional seat.
Challenges: The Republican secretary of state says the new districts are in place as candidates file for office in March. But opponents insist the new districts should have been suspended when they submitted petition signatures in December to try to force a statewide referendum on the map. The secretary of state has until August to determine whether the petition meets legal muster and has enough signatures. Meanwhile, several lawsuits are challenging the legality of the new districts.
Florida
Current map: eight Democrats, 20 Republicans
Proposed map: Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis says he will call a special legislative session in April on congressional redistricting.
Challenges: A lawsuit asserts that DeSantis cannot legally call the special session. The state constitution says districts cannot be drawn with intent to favor or disfavor a political party or incumbent.
Maryland
Current map: seven Democrats, one Republican
Proposed map: The Democratic-led state House in February passed a redistricting plan backed by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore that could help Democrats win an additional seat.
Challenges: Candidate filing ended Feb. 24, and the Democratic state Senate president has said his chamber won’t move forward with redistricting because of concerns it could backfire on Democrats.
New York
Current map: 19 Democrats, seven Republicans
Proposed map: A judge in January ordered a state commission to draw new boundaries for the only congressional district in New York City represented by a Republican, ruling it unconstitutionally dilutes the votes of Black and Hispanic residents.
Challenges: The U.S. Supreme Court in March granted a request by Republicans to halt the judge’s order, leaving the existing district lines in place for the 2026 election.
Redistricting triumphs:
Texas
Current map: 13 Democrats, 25 Republicans
New map: Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a revised House map into law last August that could help Republicans win five additional seats.
Challenges: The U.S. Supreme Court in December cleared the way for the new districts to be used in this year’s elections. It put on hold a lower-court ruling that blocked the new map because it was “racially gerrymandered.”
California
Current map: 43 Democrats, nine Republicans
New map: Voters in November approved revised House districts drawn by the Democratic-led Legislature that could help Democrats win five additional seats.
Challenges: The U.S. Supreme Court in February allowed the new districts to be used in this year’s elections. It denied an appeal from Republicans and the Department of Justice, which claimed the districts impermissibly favor Hispanic voters.
North Carolina
Current map: four Democrats, 10 Republicans
New map: The Republican-led General Assembly gave final approval in October to revised districts that could help Republicans win an additional seat.
Challenges: A federal court panel in November denied a request to block the revised districts from being used in the midterm elections.
Ohio
Current map: five Democrats, 10 Republicans
New map: A bipartisan panel composed primarily of Republicans voted in October to approve revised House districts that improve Republicans’ chances of winning two additional seats.
Challenges: None. The state constitution required new districts before the 2026 election. Because Republicans had approved the prior maps without sufficient Democratic support, they were required to expire after the 2024 election.
Utah
Current map: no Democrats, four Republicans
New map: A judge in November imposed revised House districts that could help Democrats win a seat. The court ruled that lawmakers had circumvented anti-gerrymandering standards passed by voters when adopting the prior map.
Challenges: A federal court panel and the state Supreme Court, in February, each rejected Republican challenges to the judicial map selection.
Redistricting possibilities:
Louisiana
Current map: two Democrats, four Republicans
Proposal: Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed legislation in October to delay the state’s primary election from April 18 until May 16. That could give lawmakers extra time to redraw House districts if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the current districts.
Challenges: The Supreme Court heard arguments in October but has not ruled yet.
South Carolina
Current map: one Democrat, six Republicans
Proposed map: A legislative committee is considering a congressional redistricting plan that could help Republicans win an additional seat.
Challenges: Republican legislative leaders are concerned the plan could backfire, and time is running short before this year’s election.
Colorado
Current map: four Democrats, four Republicans
Proposed map: A proposed ballot initiative would authorize mid-decade redistricting and impose a new House map that could help Democrats win three additional seats.
Challenges: Organizers must gather enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot. If approved by voters, the new districts couldn’t be used until the 2028 elections.
Washington
Current map: eight Democrats, two Republicans
Proposed map: Democratic lawmakers have proposed a constitutional amendment that would allow mid-decade redistricting.
Challenges: Democrats don’t hold the two-thirds majority needed in both legislative chambers to refer a proposed amendment to the ballot, meaning it is unlikely to be approved before the November election.
Wisconsin
Current map: two Democrats, six Republicans
Proposed map: Two lawsuits assert that congressional districts must be redrawn because they unconstitutionally favor Republicans.
Challenges: One court case is not scheduled for trial until 2027, and it’s unclear whether the other case can be resolved before the midterm election.