Redistricting produced a decisive set of outcomes in ten states after an unusual mid-cycle fight over congressional lines. What began as a campaign by President Donald Trump to press GOP-controlled legislatures for more favorable maps evolved into a national scramble, with Republican lawmakers in a number of states successfully installing new boundaries that boost their party’s prospects in November. Overall, Republicans have improved their position in races for a total of 16 seats under new maps, while Democrats have an advantage in six newly redrawn districts. Despite those gains for Republican mapmakers, Democrats enter the fall with a narrow pathway to reclaim the U.S. House: they must flip three Republican-held seats from the 2024 configuration to win a majority.
Republican gains by state
Tennessee - One seat
On May 7, Tennessee Republicans enacted a new congressional plan that eliminated a majority-Black district centered on Memphis. The change followed a U.S. Supreme Court decision in April that weakened longstanding Voting Rights Act protections for such districts - a decision the Tennessee legislature acted upon promptly. The incumbent of the dismantled district, Democrat Steve Cohen, said he would not run for reelection after the redraw, leaving the state’s nine seats likely to deliver a complete Republican sweep in November.
Alabama - One seat
On June 2 the U.S. Supreme Court allowed a Republican-drawn map in Alabama to take effect. Under the new plan, only one congressional district is majority or near-majority Black rather than the current two. That order reversed a three-judge federal panel that had earlier ruled the map intentionally discriminated against Black voters. Democrats currently hold the two districts with large Black populations, while Republicans control the other five Alabama seats; the newly approved map is expected to produce six Republican seats.
Texas - Up to five seats
A Supreme Court ruling in early December cleared the way for a Republican-backed Texas map that targets as many as five Democratic-held seats. That decision overturned a lower court finding that the plan likely discriminated against minority voters. Governor Greg Abbott signed the map into law in August after prominent Democratic lawmakers staged a legislative walkout weeks earlier; more than 50 Democrats fled the state to temporarily block action but ultimately returned. Under the Republican-originated lines from 2021, the GOP already controls 25 of Texas’ 38 seats.
Florida - Up to four seats
Governor Ron DeSantis crafted a map intended to flip four Democratic-held seats and called a special legislative session in late April to approve it. The Republican-controlled legislature enacted the plan, after which Democrats sued, arguing a state constitutional provision forbids drawing districts solely for partisan advantage. On June 10, the state Supreme Court declined to block the map before November, finding it lacked jurisdiction until the lower-court process proceeds. The state already tilts heavily Republican in House representation, with GOP lawmakers holding 20 of 28 seats following a map enacted in 2022 that flipped four Democratic seats.
Missouri - One seat
In September Republican Governor Mike Kehoe signed a new congressional map that dismantled a Democratic seat based in Kansas City, shifting the state toward a configuration in which Republicans hold the advantage in seven of eight House districts.
Ohio - Up to two seats
State law forced a new map for 2026 after the previous plan was approved without any Democratic votes. The redistricting commission - composed of five Republicans and two Democrats - approved a compromise map unanimously in October. That map increases Republican prospects in two Democratic-held districts but did not reach the extent of changes some Democrats feared. Republicans currently control 10 of Ohio’s 15 seats.
North Carolina - One seat
In October the Republican-controlled state legislature approved a map aimed at flipping a Democratic seat, a change that would leave Republicans with 11 of the state’s 14 U.S. House seats. State law prevented Democratic Governor Josh Stein from influencing the process.
Louisiana - One seat
On May 29 the Republican-majority state legislature enacted a map that removes one of two districts with significant Black populations; both of those districts are held by Democrats. Republicans already control the state’s other four seats, and under the new map the GOP is set to win a probable five seats in November. Earlier, Republican Governor Jeff Landry postponed the state’s May 16 U.S. House primary after the U.S. Supreme Court found Louisiana’s map to be an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
Republican attempts that stalled
South Carolina - Effort failed
A proposed map in South Carolina that would have dismantled the district held by longtime Democratic Representative Jim Clyburn failed in the state Senate on May 26. Despite pressure from the White House, several Republicans joined Democrats to block the plan after it had passed the state House of Representatives. Republicans retain control of the state’s other six U.S. House districts.
Indiana - Effort failed
Indiana’s Republican-run Senate rejected a proposed map intended to flip the state’s only two Democratic House seats. That rejection represented a notable instance of GOP lawmakers opposing a Trump-backed redistricting push. Republicans currently hold seven of nine House seats in Indiana.
Kansas - Effort failed
Kansas Republicans abandoned a Trump-supported bid to redraw the state’s map after House Speaker Dan Hawkins said in January there was insufficient backing in his chamber to overcome a veto threat from Democratic Governor Laura Kelly. Republicans already hold three of the state’s four U.S. House seats.
Democratic gains and court interventions
California - Up to five seats
California voters overwhelmingly approved a Democratic-backed map, championed by Governor Gavin Newsom and state legislators, designed to flip as many as five Republican-held districts - a direct response to mid-decade moves elsewhere. Democrats now hold 43 of the state’s 52 districts under the newly approved configuration.
Virginia - Effort blocked by court
Virginia voters approved a Democratic-drawn map in a special April 21 election that could have produced flips in as many as four Republican-held seats. However, on May 8 the state Supreme Court invalidated the referendum results, finding that Democratic lawmakers failed to follow procedural requirements when placing the measure on the ballot.
Utah - One seat
A state judge invalidated a Republican-drawn map as illegally partisan and implemented an alternative plan that is likely to flip one of Utah’s four Republican-held seats to Democratic control.
Maryland - Effort failed
In February Democrats in the state House advanced a map targeting the state’s only Republican congressman, with support from Governor Wes Moore and national Democratic leaders. Democrats already hold the other seven Maryland House districts. But the state Senate president, Democrat Bill Ferguson, opposed the bill and has indicated he may revisit the matter only ahead of the 2028 cycle.
What remains unsettled
The redistricting process produced clear winners in several states, but legal challenges and judicial rulings continue to shape the final landscape. Courts have played a decisive role - from the U.S. Supreme Court’s interventions in Alabama and Texas to state high courts and judges overturning or pausing plans in other jurisdictions. A number of maps face active litigation or procedural questions that could yet alter which lines govern the November contests.
Even with the Republican-favored maps now in effect in several states, the arithmetic for control of the U.S. House remains narrow. Democrats need to flip only three seats held by Republicans under the 2024 alignment to win a majority, keeping the chamber's outcome in play despite the mid-decade redrawing that expanded GOP advantages in multiple states.
Contextual note
These redistricting outcomes reflect an uncommon mid-cycle wave of mapmaking prompted by partisan strategy at the state level and decisive, high-court involvement. The combination of state legislative action, gubernatorial signings, judicial rulings and ballot measures produced a patchwork of settled and contested plans; voters in ten states will head into November with new congressional lines on the ballot, while other states saw efforts blocked, overturned or deferred.