Joseph Akers
May 11 (Reuters) – Several Republican-led states in the South are scrambling to redraw congressional maps ahead of November midterm elections to help preserve the Republican Party’s slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, the latest round in a year-long battle over redistricting across the country.
The political war began last summer, when President Donald Trump urged Texas Republicans to install a new map targeting five seats held by Democrats. California Democrats responded with their own map, targeting five Republican incumbents, and other states quickly followed suit.
As of this spring, the two parties were roughly tied. But two court decisions — a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down protections for majority-Black districts and a Virginia Supreme Court ruling that overturned the state’s Democratic-backed maps — gave Republicans a decisive advantage.
Republicans now appear poised to end the cycle as their advantage grows in nearly a dozen House seats across the country. Starting in 2024, Democrats only need to flip three seats held by Republicans to win a majority, so every district could be crucial. Here’s how the conflict is unfolding across the country:
Republican gains
Tennessee – one seat
Tennessee Republican lawmakers on May 7 approved a new congressional map that dismantles majority-black districts centered in Memphis, becoming the first state to take advantage of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down the Voting Rights Act.
The move could oust the state’s only Democratic U.S. Representative, Steve Cohen, and give Republicans a sweep of all nine of the state’s districts.
South Carolina – May have only one seat
Republican lawmakers are weighing a new map that would target the district represented by longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, although it’s unclear whether there is enough support to approve it. The new map could require the Legislature to delay the June primary nominating election.
Republicans currently control the state’s six other U.S. House districts.
Alabama – May have only one seat
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for Republican lawmakers to install new maps that would target one of the state’s two majority-Black districts, both of which are represented by Democrats.
In anticipation of the court order, Republican lawmakers have approved legislation that would allow them to cancel the May 19 U.S. House primary and set a new date.
Alabama’s current map is subject to a court order requiring it to remain in place until 2030. But the U.S. Supreme Court granted a Republican request to lift the ban, potentially allowing lawmakers to reuse an old map with only one Democratic-leaning district. Republicans already control the state’s five other House seats.
Texas – up to five seats
The U.S. Supreme Court in early December cleared the way for new Republican-backed maps targeting five seats held by Democrats. The court’s ruling overturned a lower court ruling that concluded the map could discriminate against minority voters.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the map into law in August. More than 50 Democratic lawmakers fled the state weeks ago, temporarily blocking the vote, but eventually returned. Republicans already control 25 of Texas’ 38 seats, according to maps drawn by the party starting in 2021.
Florida – up to four seats
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis drew a new map aimed at flipping four seats held by Democrats and convened a special legislative session in late April, where the Republican majority passed it into law. Democrats have vowed to challenge the map in court, citing a provision in the state constitution that expressly prohibits the Legislature from drawing districts purely for partisan gain.
Republicans already control 20 of the state’s 28 seats after DeSantis and the Legislature passed a new map in 2022 that flipped four Democratic seats.
Missouri – one seat
Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a new map in September that eliminated a Democratic seat in Kansas City, giving the party an advantage in seven of the state’s eight congressional seats. Opponents are trying to force a voter referendum on the map, and some groups have filed lawsuits challenging its legality.
Ohio – up to two seats
In an oddity, state law requires new maps to be drawn in 2026 because the last map was approved without a Democratic vote. The state’s redistricting commission, made up of five Republicans and two Democrats, unanimously approved a compromise map in October that increased Republicans’ chances of flipping two seats held by Democrats, but not to the extent Democrats feared. Republicans hold 10 of the state’s 15 seats.
North Carolina – one seat
The state Legislature’s Republican majority in October approved a new map aimed at flipping Democratic seats, which would give Republicans control of 11 of the state’s 14 U.S. House seats, even though the state is a divided swing state. Under state law, Democratic Gov. Josh Stein has no say in the process.
Louisiana – Maximum of two seats
Republican Gov. Jeff Landry has suspended the state’s May 16 U.S. House primary election after the U.S. Supreme Court found that Louisiana’s map contains unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. The delay gives the Republican-majority state Legislature a chance to weigh several potential new maps, including one that would dismantle two of the state’s majority-black, Democratic-held districts.
Republicans currently hold four of the state’s six seats.
Indiana – Effort Failed
Indiana’s Republican-controlled Senate rejected a new map aimed at flipping the state’s only two Democratic House seats, a rare rebuke from members of Trump’s own party. Republicans control seven of the state’s nine U.S. House seats.
Kansas – Effort Failed
Kansas Republicans abandoned a Trump-backed effort to redraw the state’s congressional maps after state House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Republican, said in January that his chamber did not have enough support to overcome a veto threat from Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. Republicans already hold three of the state’s four U.S. House seats.
Democratic achievements
California – up to five seats
Voters overwhelmingly approved new maps backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic lawmakers aimed at flipping up to five Republican-held seats in direct response to Texas. Democrats currently control 43 of the state’s 52 districts.
Virginia – Efforts blocked by courts
Virginia voters approved new congressional maps drawn by Democrats on April 21 in special elections that could flip four Republican U.S. House seats. But the state Supreme Court threw out the results on May 8, ruling that Democratic lawmakers failed to follow proper procedures when passing the proposed referendum and putting it to a vote.
Utah – one seat
A state judge has struck down a Republican-drawn map as illegally partisan and instituted an alternative that could have given one of the state’s four Republican-held seats to Democrats.
Maryland – efforts stalled
Democrats in the state House proposed a new map in February that would target the state’s only Republican congressman, a move backed by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore and national Democratic leaders. Democrats control the state’s seven other House districts.
But state Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Democrat, opposed the bill, potentially dooming the effort.
NEW YORK – Efforts blocked by courts
A New York judge in January ordered the state’s independent redistricting commission to redraw Republican-controlled congressional districts centered on New York City’s Staten Island borough, potentially giving Democrats a chance to flip seats in November.
However, the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority put that decision on hold on March 2 and granted the request of incumbent Republican Nicole Malliotakis.
Democrats hold 19 of the state’s 26 seats. Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul has vowed to create new maps in response to Trump’s efforts, but New York law makes it impossible to move forward with statewide redistricting until 2027.
(Reporting by Joseph Axe; Additional reporting by Andy Sullivan Editing by Paul Thomasch, Lisa Shumaker and Rosalba O’Brien)
