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The battlefield is narrowing and the timeline is tightening in a congressional redistricting contest among states seeking a partisan advantage ahead of the November midterm elections. <\/p>\n
The end of Maryland’s legislative session<\/a> this week marked the demise of Democratic efforts to reshape the state’s U.S. House districts. But Florida lawmakers are to begin a special session Monday for a Republican attempt at congressional redistricting. And Virginia voters are deciding Tuesday on a Democratic redistricting plan that could help the party win several additional House seats in this year’s election.<\/p>\n Voting districts typically are redrawn once a decade, after each census. But President Donald Trump triggered an unusual round of mid-decade redistricting<\/a> last year when he urged Texas Republicans<\/a> to redraw House districts to give the GOP an edge in the midterm elections. California Democrats reciprocated, and redistricting efforts soon cascaded across states.<\/p>\n 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<\/a> hold in November. And that\u2019s uncertain, especially since the party in power typically loses seats in the midterms and Trump faces negative approval ratings in polls. <\/p>\n Democrats need to gain just a few seats in November to wrest control of the House from Republicans, potentially allowing them to obstruct Trump\u2019s agenda. <\/p>\n Officials in more than a dozen states debated or floated redistricting proposals. The immediate focus is on two states \u2014 one led by Republicans, the other by Democrats.<\/p>\n Current map: eight Democrats, 20 Republicans<\/p>\n Proposed map: Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has called a special legislative session<\/a> to begin Monday on congressional redistricting. Republicans haven’t yet publicly released a specific plan.<\/p>\n Challenges: The state constitution says districts cannot be drawn with intent to favor or disfavor a political party or incumbent.<\/p>\n Current map: six Democrats, five Republicans<\/p>\n Proposed map: A new U.S. House map<\/a> passed by the Democratic-led General Assembly could help Democrats win up to four additional seats. For the map to take effect, voters would have to approve a constitutional amendment<\/a> allowing mid-decade redistricting. That amendment is on Tuesday’s ballot. <\/p>\n Challenges: The state Supreme Court ruled<\/a> the referendum can proceed, but it has yet to rule whether the effort is legal. The court is considering an appeal of a Tazewell County judge\u2019s ruling that the amendment is invalid<\/a> because lawmakers violated their own rules while passing it.<\/p>\n New U.S. House districts have been adopted in six states since last summer. Four took up redistricting voluntarily, one was required to by its state constitution and another did so under court order.<\/p>\n Current map: 13 Democrats, 25 Republicans<\/p>\n New map: Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a revised House map<\/a> into law last August that could help Republicans win five additional seats.<\/p>\n Challenges: The U.S. Supreme Court in December cleared the way for the new districts<\/a> to be used in this year\u2019s elections. It put on hold a lower-court ruling that blocked the new map<\/a> because it was \u201cracially gerrymandered.\u201d <\/p>\n Current map: 43 Democrats, nine Republicans<\/p>\n New map: Voters in November approved revised House districts<\/a> drawn by the Democratic-led Legislature that could help Democrats win five additional seats. <\/p>\n Challenges: The U.S. Supreme Court in February allowed the new districts to be used<\/a> in this year\u2019s elections. It denied an appeal<\/a> from Republicans and the Department of Justice, which claimed the districts impermissibly favor Hispanic voters.<\/p>\n Current map: two Democrats, six Republicans<\/p>\n New map: Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a revised House map<\/a> into law last September that could help Republicans win an additional seat.<\/p>\n Challenges: A Cole County judge ruled the new map is in effect<\/a> as election officials work to determine whether a referendum petition seeking a statewide vote complies with constitutional criteria and contains enough valid petition signatures. The Missouri Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit<\/a> claiming mid-decade redistricting is illegal. It’s scheduled to hear arguments in May on claims the new districts violate compactness requirements and should be placed on hold pending the potential referendum. <\/p>\n Current map: four Democrats, 10 Republicans<\/p>\n New map: The Republican-led General Assembly gave final approval<\/a> in October to revised districts that could help Republicans win an additional seat.<\/p>\n Challenges: A federal court panel<\/a> in November denied a request to block the revised districts from being used in the midterm elections.<\/p>\n Current map: five Democrats, 10 Republicans<\/p>\n New map: A bipartisan panel composed primarily of Republicans voted in October to approve revised House districts<\/a> that improve Republicans\u2019 chances of winning two additional seats. <\/p>\n Challenges: None. The state constitution required new districts before the 2026 election, because Republicans had approved the prior map without sufficient Democratic support after the last census.<\/p>\n Current map: no Democrats, four Republicans<\/p>\n New map: A judge in November imposed revised House districts<\/a> 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. <\/p>\n Challenges: A federal court panel<\/a> and the state Supreme Court<\/a>, in February, each rejected Republican challenges to the judicial map selection.<\/p>\n Governors, lawmakers or partisan officials pushed for congressional redistricting in numerous states. In at least five states, those efforts gained some initial traction but ultimately fell short in either the legislature or court. <\/p>\n Current map: seven Democrats, one Republican<\/p>\n Proposed map: The Democratic-led House in February passed a redistricting plan<\/a> backed by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore that could help Democrats win an additional seat.<\/p>\n Challenges: The legislative session ended in April without the Democratic-led Senate voting on the redistricting plan. The state Senate president said there were concerns it could backfire on Democrats.<\/p>\n Current map: 19 Democrats, seven Republicans<\/p>\n Proposed map: A judge in January ordered a state commission to draw new boundaries<\/a> for the only congressional district in New York City represented by a Republican, ruling it unconstitutionally dilutes the votes of Black and Hispanic residents.<\/p>\n Challenges: The U.S. Supreme Court in March granted Republicans’ request to halt the judge\u2019s order<\/a>, leaving the existing district lines in place for the 2026 election.<\/p>\n Current map: two Democrats, seven Republicans<\/p>\n Proposed map: The Republican-led House passed a redistricting plan<\/a> in December that would have improved Republicans\u2019 chances of winning two additional seats. <\/p>\n Challenges: Despite pressure from Trump to adopt the new map, the Republican-led Senate rejected it in a bipartisan vote<\/a> on Dec. 11.<\/p>\n Current map: one Democrat, three Republicans<\/p>\n Proposed map: Some Republican lawmakers mounted an attempt to take up congressional redistricting.<\/p>\n