How the Redistricting War Is Playing Out, State by State

President Donald Trump's demand that Republican-led states redraw their congressional maps to help his party retain control of Congress in November's midterm elections has triggered a national battle over redistricting.

The fight began last ‌July when Republicans in Texas, the most populous Republican-led state, heeded Trump's call to pass a new map aimed at flipping five Democrat-held seats in the House.

California, the biggest Democrat-led state, responded with its own redistricting effort. Other states, led both by Republicans and Democrats, followed suit.

Thus far, Republicans have passed maps increasing their advantage in 13 seats across five states, while Democrats have gained an edge in 10 seats across three states, though some of the new maps could still fall to legal challenges.

The U.S. Supreme Court's April 29 landmark voting rights decision could prompt several more Republican states to pursue new maps ahead of November, as well.

Republicans won a House majority in 2024 by a margin of only three seats, so every district could prove pivotal. Here is how the ‌conflict is unfolding across the country:

Republican Gains

Texas: Up to 5 Seats

The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way in early December for a new Republican-backed map that targets five Democrat-held seats. The court's 6-3 decision, with ​the three liberals dissenting, overturned a lower court ruling that had concluded the map likely discriminated against minority voters.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the map into law in August. Weeks earlier, more than 50 Democrat lawmakers fled the state, temporarily preventing a vote, but ultimately returned.

Republicans already control 25 of Texas' 38 seats under a Republican-drawn map from 2021.

Florida: Up to 4 Seats

Republican ⁠Gov. Ron DeSantis drew a new map aimed at flipping four Democrat-held seats and called 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 state constitutional provision that expressly bars 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 ⁠Democrat seats.

Missouri: 1 Seat

Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a new map into law in September that dismantled a Democrat-held seat based in Kansas City, giving his party the advantage in seven of the state's eight congressional seats. Opponents are attempting to force a voter referendum on the map, while several organizations have filed lawsuits challenging its legality.

Ohio: Up to 2 Seats

A quirk in state law required a new map for 2026 because the previous one was approved with no Democrat votes.

The state's redistricting commission, which includes five Republicans and two Democrats, unanimously approved a compromise map in October that ‌boosted Republican chances of flipping two Democrat-held seats but did not go as far as Democrats had feared. Republicans hold 10 of the state's 15 seats.

North Carolina: 1 Seat

The Legislature's Republican majority approved a ​new map in October designed to ‌flip a Democrat seat, which would give Republicans control of 11 of the state's 14 House seats despite its status as a divided swing state. Under state law, Democrat Gov. Josh Stein had no say in the process.

Louisiana

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry suspended the state's May 16 primary election for the House after the U.S. Supreme Court found that ‌Louisiana's map was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.

The postponement will give the Republican-majority Legislature a chance to draw a new map that dismantles at least one, and possibly both, of the state's Democrat-held districts, both majority Black.

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 Democrat House seats, a rare rebuke to Trump from members of his own ⁠party. Republicans control seven of the state's nine House seats.

Kansas: Effort Failed

Kansas Republicans abandoned a Trump-backed effort ‌to redraw the state's congressional map after the state House speaker, Republican Dan Hawkins, ⁠said in January there was not enough support in his chamber to overcome a veto threat from Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly.

Republicans already hold three of the state's four U.S. House seats.

Democrat Gains

California: Up to 5 Seats

Voters overwhelmingly approved a new map backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrat lawmakers designed to ⁠flip as many as ⁠five Republican-held seats in direct response to Texas. Democrats currently hold 43 of the state's 52 districts.

Virginia: Up to 4 Seats

Virginia voters on April 21 approved a new Democrat-drawn congressional map in a special election that could flip four Republican House seats. But the new map still faces challenges from Republicans who argue that ‌Democrat lawmakers did not follow the law when approving the proposed referendum.

The state Supreme Court has left in place a lower court's order blocking certification of the results while it weighs Republican claims. The updated district lines are likely to result in Democrats capturing 10 of the state's 11 seats in the House in November, up from their current 6-to-5 advantage.

Utah: 1 Seat

A state judge threw out a Republican-drawn map as illegally partisan and implemented an alternative that is likely to flip one of ‌the state's four Republican-held seats to ​Democrats.

Maryland: Effort Stalled

Democrats in the state House advanced a new map ‌in February that targeted the state's only Republican member of Congress, a move championed by Democrat Gov. Wes Moore and national Democrat leaders. Democrats hold the state's other seven U.S. House districts.

But the state Senate president, Democrat Bill Ferguson, opposed the bill, likely dooming the effort.

New York: Effort Failed

A New York judge in January ordered the state's independent redistricting commission to redraw a Republican-held congressional district centered on New York City's borough ​of Staten Island, potentially giving Democrats a chance to flip the seat in November.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority put that decision on hold on March 2, granting a request from the incumbent Republican, Nicole Malliotakis.

Democrats hold 19 of the state's 26 seats. Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul has vowed to pursue a new map in response to Trump's efforts, but New York law makes it impossible to advance a statewide redistricting effort until 2027.