Congressional voting districts for millions of Americans are undergoing a frenzied, ongoing reshaping ahead of the November elections. This extensive redistricting effort, which is still unfolding, could significantly alter the political landscape.
Following an urging from Donald Trump last year for Texas Republicans to redraw U.S. House districts, Republicans in Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida and Tennessee have since enacted new maps. These changes are designed to help the party secure additional seats in the upcoming midterm elections. Louisiana is expected to implement similar changes soon, while Alabama Republicans are currently appealing a court decision that blocked a map they supported.
Republicans project these redistricting efforts could yield as many as 14 new seats. Democrats, meanwhile, anticipate gaining six seats from new districts established in California and Utah.
This unusual mid-decade redistricting is seen by Donald Trump as a crucial strategy for Republicans to retain control of the closely divided House, particularly given negative approval ratings and historical trends that often see the incumbent party lose seats during midterms.
Here’s a look at the latest developments in the redistricting battle:
Louisiana House to vote on redistricting
The U.S. Supreme Court in April struck down Louisiana’s congressional map, which contains two majority-Black districts held by Democrats, as an illegal racial gerrymander. That prompted Republican Gov. Jeff Landry to postpone Louisiana’s May 16 congressional primary until later this summer to allow time for redistricting.
The state House is expected to consider a revised congressional map this week that gives Republicans a better chance of winning one of those two seats. The Senate already passed a different version of the new map. The two chambers are trying to agree on a redistricting plan before the June 1 end of their legislative session.
Alabama seeks permission for new map
Republican Attorney General Steve Marshall on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the state to use a Republican-drawn congressional map in the midterm elections. Marshall wants to set aside a preliminary injunction issued Tuesday against the map by a federal judicial panel.
The lower court judges said the plan, which includes only one majority-Black district, “intentionally discriminated based on race.” They ordered the state to continue using a court-imposed map containing two districts where Black residents compose a majority or close to it. Both of those seats currently are held by Democrats.
Missouri high court hears objections
The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday on a legal challenge from the NAACP claiming that no extraordinary circumstances existed for Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe to call lawmakers into a special session on redistricting last year. State attorneys contend that’s irrelevant, because governors have broad discretion for special sessions.
The Supreme Court already has rejected two other challenges to a new U.S. House map that gives Republicans an improved chance to win another seat by reshaping a Democratic-held district based in Kansas City.
South Carolina pulls the plug on redistricting
As early in-person voting began Tuesday in South Carolina’s June 9 primaries, the Republican-led state Senate ended efforts to redraw the state’s congressional districts this year. A plan previously passed by the House sought to redraw the state’s only Democratic-held district to give Republicans a better chance at winning it.
But some Republican senators said it was too late to make changes. Others expressed reservations that the plan could backfire by adding too many Democratic voters in districts held by Republicans.
Florida judge lets GOP map stand
Voting rights groups contend Florida’s new congressional districts should be struck down for violating a state ban on intentional partisan gerrymandering. But a state judge on Tuesday declined to issue a preliminary injunction against using the map in the midterm elections.
The judge said the plaintiffs hadn’t shown their claims of partisanship are likely to succeed. Voting rights groups said they would quickly appeal to a higher court and would continue pursuing the case all the way to the state Supreme Court, if necessary.
Tennessee map faces several challenges
A state court panel dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging the Republican-led legislature went beyond the special session agenda set by Republican Gov. Bill Lee when it passed a new congressional map. Meanwhile, a federal court on Tuesday declined to issue a temporary restraining order in a separate lawsuit contending that Tennessee’s new U.S. House districts are racially discriminatory.
The new Republican-drawn map carves up a majority-Black district in Memphis — a city where more than half the population is Black — giving Republicans an improved chance to win the state’s only Democratic-held seat. Several lawsuits are still pending in federal courts.
