As Texas pushes redistricting plan to add 5 GOP House seats before 2026 elections, other states may follow

CBS News

2 days ago

Washington — The fight for control of the House in the 2026 midterm elections is underway — long before a single ballot is cast next year.
Texas is fighting to enact a GOP-led redistricting effort that would give Republicans five more seats in the state and help them hold their narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. But it isn't the only state where redistricting pushes are underway, as California and other states consider similar moves ahead of the midterms.
Typically, states redraw congressional and legislative districts after the decennial census to reflect population shifts. Texas undertook its redistricting effort after President Trump suggested in mid-July the state should redraw for Republican advantage. About a week earlier, the head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights division, Harmeet Dhillon, had written to the Texas governor and state attorney general to complain that four of the state's current districts were "coalition districts" — that is, districts with different racial groups that support the same candidate — that were "not protected by the Voting Rights Act."
She referred to the districts as "vestiges of an unconstitutional racially based gerrymandering past, which must be abandoned, and must now be corrected by Texas."
Mr. Trump, asked about redistricting on CNBC this week, said, "they did it to us," blaming Democratic-led states for the unusual mid-decade redistricting push.
"California is gerrymandered. We should have many more seats in Congress in California — it's all gerrymandered," Mr. Trump said. "And we have an opportunity in Texas to pick up five seats."
Eight states rely on independent commissions to craft new maps, which in most cases means they won't be joining the gerrymandering battle that's underway. But in at least two of those states, New York and California, Democratic governors are looking for ways to get around that requirement in order to bolster their congressional delegations' majorities.
In other states, congressional delegations already heavily skew toward one party, limiting the number of gains that can be made. Maryland's eight-member delegation has just one Republican, and in Illinois, Democrats control 14 of the 17 House seats.
Looming over the redistricting efforts is a case before the Supreme Court that could have significant implications for the Voting Rights Act and attempts to remedy alleged vote dilution. The dispute involves Louisiana's congressional map, and while the high court heard arguments in March, it set the case for re-argument in its next term, which starts in October.
The long-running court fight began after the state's GOP-led legislature adopted a map with one majority-minority district, but was ordered to add a second majority-Black district by a federal judge who said the original map likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Louisiana's map now includes two majority-Black districts out of its six House seats.
The high court asked the parties Friday to file new papers on whether the intentional creation of a second majority-Black district violates the Constitution's 14th Amendment — an indication that the court will be weighing whether race-based redistricting is lawful.
Here's what to know about redistricting nationwide:
Texas has kicked off the redistricting fight, with state Republicans convening in Austin for a 30-day special session that includes a redrawing of the state's congressional map.
Mr. Trump has pointed to Texas as key for Republicans in trying to maintain their House majority and said he believes the GOP can pick up five seats through a "simple redrawing" of Texas' voting boundaries.
Texas Republicans unveiled their proposed map last week, which meets the president's goal of five additional GOP-leaning districts. Under the new map, if enacted, Republicans could win up to 30 of the state's 38 House districts.
A state House panel voted Saturday to advance the redrawn map in a party-line vote.
In response to the redistricting bid, dozens of Democratic state lawmakers fled Texas for Chicago and New York in an effort to deny Republicans a quorum Monday and block them from adopting the new map.
Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, said he would seek to strip the absent Democrats of their membership in the Texas state House, and GOP state lawmakers approved a motion Monday for the Texas House sergeant-at-arms to secure the attendance of missing Democrats "under warrant of arrest if necessary." Abbott on Tuesday filed a lawsuit to the Texas Supreme Court on Tuesday to remove state Rep. Gene Wu from office if he did not return by Thursday.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn wrote a letter to the FBI asking the agency to help track down the lawmakers, and Mr. Trump said Tuesday that the FBI "may have to" get involved.
California voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2010 that left the drawing of congressional and state legislative districts to an independent commission. But California Gov. Gavin Newsom has said that he would push for a multi-step plan that would allow the lines of the House districts to be drawn by the state legislature — and in the middle of the decade.
Under the proposal, the governor would call a special election for early November to have voters approve the new congressional map.
Newsom suggested Monday that there were drafts of new maps in progress and said his team helped initiate conversations with Democratic leadership. The re-crafted map could increase the seats Democrats hold by five, according to the Associated Press.
"The maps, we believe should be transparent, they should be provided in a transparent way to the public, and as a consequence, those maps are being processed and will be brought to light," he said.
He added, "The ultimate determination will be by the people of the state of California. We will offer them the opportunity to make judgment for themselves — again, only if Texas moves forward. We would maintain the framework of the independent redistricting commission that I support, that I believe in. We would just allow for this mid-census redistricting to occur just for congressional maps in 26, 28 and 30."
California has 52 congressional districts, and Democrats hold 43 of those seats.
In Indiana, Republicans control seven of nine congressional seats. The state last redistricted in 2021, and some in the GOP orbit have floated another redistricting effort ahead of the midterms.
Vice President JD Vance plans to visit Indianapolis Thursday and meet with Indiana Gov. Mike Braun.
Democratic Rep. Frank Mrvan's seat in the northwest corner of the state, bordering parts of Chicago's suburbs, could be a target as Republicans consider an effort to redraw the state's congressional maps, which could leave Democrats with a single seat in the state. The Indiana Legislature, overwhelmingly controlled by Republicans, is tasked with drawing its congressional districts.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie have suggested that the Democratic-controlled legislature could create new congressional maps that are more friendly to Democrats.
"We're sick and tired of being pushed around when other states don't have the same aspirations that we always have had, and I hold those dear, but I cannot ignore that," Hochul said at a press conference with some Texas Democratic lawmakers earlier this week. "This the playing field has changed dramatically, and shame on us if we ignore that fact and cling tight to the vestiges of the past. That era is over. Donald Trump eliminated that. Forever."
But New York faces some steep obstacles in trying to redraw the maps before the midterms. New York's constitution calls for a bipartisan commission to draw up the congressional maps, although the state Assembly and Senate get final approval. In the 2021 redistricting, New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals, said Democrats had "unconstitutionally gerrymandered districts" and ordered a special master to redraw the district.
With the help of these maps, Republicans were able to flip four seats in New York in the 2022 elections, making the congressional delegation 15 Democrats and 11 Republicans. Democrats sued, and in a 4-3 decision, the Court of Appeals said those maps were supposed to be temporary and ordered an independent commission to redraw the maps. The new districts gave Democrats a slight edge. With these maps, Democrats flipped four seats in 2024, giving them 19 seats in the state and Republicans seven.
If Democrats wanted to lead an effort to change New York's constitution, it would require an affirmative vote in two consecutive sessions of the Legislature, and then it would have to be approved by voters, as Hochul herself noted on Monday. The 2025 legislative session is already over, with the next session starting in January 2026.
"This could be really more on the ballot in the fall of '27 and be enacted in time for the congressional races in 2028 as well as the presidential — so, it is not the timeline that I would have preferred, but it does shave off four years from another through the process," Hochul said Monday. "But we're going to also look at litigation strategies. We're in close conversations about options there, and so I would say we're presenting all options right now."
The state constitution also prohibits mid-decade redistricting, and any new proposal to amend it to allow a redrawing of state lines before the next census would have to clear the current state legislature and the one elected in 2026.
"The earliest that could go into effect would be after the 2027 elections, preventing the state from re-redistricting until the 2028 election cycle," said Jeffrey Wice, a redistricting expert and professor at New York Law School.
Following Hochul's suggestion that the state's redistricting commission be disbanded, Wice said it's not a surprise that some are calling for it to be scrapped after the panel failed to complete its work in 2022 — until a court stepped in.
"A state legislature can draw a responsibly developed map if it follows objective and prioritized criteria and works in an open and transparent manner, inviting public participation and review," he said.
Republicans have a trifecta in Missouri, and the Legislature is tasked with drawing its congressional districts. State lawmakers approved a congressional redistricting plan in 2022, after which Republicans won six of Missouri's eight congressional seats.
But some state lawmakers want to extend the GOP's hold on the congressional map to 7-1. State party leaders may target the 5th Congressional District, currently represented by Democratic Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver of Kansas City. Although Cleaver won by over 23 points in 2024, Republicans in neighboring districts each won by more than 40 points.
The only time Missouri has engaged in mid-decade redistricting was in the 1960s, when the Supreme Court ruled each district had to be nearly equal in population, and a new Senatorial Appointment Commission was established to redraw the Congressional districts for the 1966 election.
State Senate President Pro Tem Cindy O'Laughlin told Columbia's KSSZ 93.9 last week that it is "likely" the Legislature would be called in for a special session by Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican. He told St. Louis' Fox affiliate over the weekend that he supported the idea, saying "is Missouri represented properly in Washington, D.C., and, quite frankly, what can we do to support President Trump's agenda?"
Lt. Gov. David Wasinger also indicated support for redrawing the congressional map, noting in a statement that Missouri is a "solidly conservative state."
"Despite this, our current congressional map still sends two progressive Democrats to push a liberal agenda in D.C., misrepresenting the will of Missouri voters," he said in a statement. "We missed the chance to secure a 7-1 map in 2022, a mistake President Trump rightly calls on us to fix. Missouri's next congressional map must protect Missouri values and ensure our representatives in Congress are as conservative as the voters who send them."
The Missouri Freedom Caucus, a coalition of conservative state lawmakers, has also been urging Kehoe, a Republican, to convene a special session of the state General Assembly to redraw its congressional map "consistent with President Trump's recommendation."
"The most current congressional map that was passed was a weak compromise — inconsistent with the political will of Missouri voters," the Missouri Freedom Caucus said in a statement last week. "It's time this super-majority Republican party in Missouri grows a spine and actually delivers the congressional map that reflects the strong conservative values of this great state, as the political makeup of this state clearly demands."
In Florida, the congressional maps are created by the Legislature and approved by the governor.
Florida Republicans have 20 seats in the U.S. House, with Democrats holding just eight. Although Democrats had challenged the current maps in court, the Florida Supreme Court in July upheld the elimination of a majority Black district.
Despite that victory, Gov. Ron DeSantis said in July that he was "seriously" looking at asking the GOP-controlled Legislature to redraw the maps.
DeSantis has also criticizedlong insisted that he felt the 2020 Census was flawed and Florida should have gained two cCongressional seats, rather than one.
"I do think we are going to be looking at the pathways to be able do the redistricting here in Florida," DeSantis said on July 30.
Republicans have a trifecta in Florida state government, controlling the governor's mansion and both chambers of the Legislature. It would be difficult for Florida Democrats to break quorum because a simple majority is only needed for a quorum in Tallahassee, and Democrats are a superminority.Olivia Rinaldi
contributed to this report.