Texas lawmakers have approved a redistricting plan designed to give Republicans up to five more seats in Congress ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, a process known as gerrymandering.
The new map came at the request of President Trump, who’s called on other GOP lawmakers to redraw their states’ congressional districts to help Republicans retain a slim three-seat majority in the House. The President’s party historically almost always loses seats during a midterm.
Voting rights groups have filed lawsuits to overturn the Texas map, claiming it intentionally dismantles minority-ruled districts and weakens the electoral influence of Black voters. The Supreme Court has ruled that gerrymandering is legal except in cases of racial discrimination.
Other states have launched retaliatory plans to offset Texas by giving more seats to Democrats, namely California’s Proposition 50, sparking what lawmakers have called a “national war” over redistricting.
How does gerrymandering work, and why is it happening now?
Political gerrymandering is when a state’s congressional district lines are creatively redrawn to benefit one party over another. Like-minded voters can be lumped together or spread across districts, regardless of geographical proximity.
Both parties do it, but Democrat-majority states usually have more legal and constitutional barriers to protect against gerrymandering. Republicans have largely benefited more from the practice, especially in Texas. The GOP already controls 25 of the state’s 38 congressional seats from a Republican-drawn map in 2021.
Redistricting usually happens at the start of each decade to reflect population changes from the new census. A mid-decade redistricting, like the one in Texas, is extremely unusual and prohibited by law in certain states.
Trump pushed this redistricting as part of his midterm strategy, and will likely continue the push into states like Ohio, Missouri, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, and New Hampshire. Lawmakers from Missouri, Indiana, Nebraska, and Iowa have already begun to discuss redistricting plans.
How have Democrats responded?
California is leading the effort to offset the Texas gerrymandering with Proposition 50, or the “Election Rigging Response Act,” launched by Gov. Gavin Newsom on August 21.
Prop. 50 would redraw the state’s congressional map to give five more seats to Democrats until the new census in 2030. To do that, California voters would have to approve the new map in a special election this coming November 4, 2025.
California has laws against gerrymandering that leave redistricting up to a non-partisan independent commission. Prop. 50 would allow the state legislature to bypass those laws to “bring much needed accountability and oversight to the Trump Administration.”
Newsom’s office wrote on social media: “DONALD TRUMP, IF YOU DO NOT STAND DOWN, WE WILL BE FORCED TO LEAD AN EFFORT TO REDRAW THE MAPS IN CA TO OFFSET THE RIGGING OF MAPS IN RED STATES. BUT IF THE OTHER STATES CALL OFF THEIR REDISTRICTING EFFORTS, WE WILL DO THE SAME.”
Democratic Governors in other states have faced similar legal challenges in exploring redistricting plans. In New York and New Jersey, redistricting would require amending the state constitutions, which could not happen before the 2026 midterms.
Maryland’s delegation already has seven Democratic seats, as opposed to one Republican seat that the state unsuccessfully tried to flip in 2022.