A frenzied redistricting effort ahead of the November elections has reshaped congressional voting districts for millions of Americans—and it isn’t over yet, according to the Associated Press.
Since President Donald Trump urged Texas Republicans to redraw U.S. House districts last year, Republicans in Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida and Tennessee also have enacted new maps that could help the party win additional seats in the midterm elections. Louisiana is expected to officially approve its new map soon, and Alabama Republicans are appealing a court decision blocking a map they support.
So far, Republicans think they could gain as many as 14 seats from their redistricting efforts while Democrats think they could gain six seats from new districts in California and Utah.
Trump hopes the unusual mid-decade redistricting can help Republicans retain control of the closely divided House, despite negative approval ratings and historical tendencies for the incumbent’s party to lose seats in the midterms.
Here’s a look at the latest developments in the redistricting battle:
Louisiana House to vote on redistricting
The U.S. Supreme Court in April struck down Louisiana’s congressional map, which contains two majority-Black districts held by Democrats, as an illegal racial gerrymander. That prompted Republican Gov. Jeff Landry to postpone Louisiana’s May 16 congressional primary until later this summer to allow time for redistricting.
The state House is expected to consider a revised congressional map this week that gives Republicans a better chance of winning one of those two seats. The Senate already passed a different version of the new map. The two chambers are trying to agree on a redistricting plan before the June 1 end of their legislative session.
Alabama seeks permission for new map
Republican Attorney General Steve Marshall on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the state to use a Republican-drawn congressional map in the midterm elections. Marshall wants to set aside a preliminary injunction issued Tuesday against the map by a federal judicial panel.
The lower court judges said the plan, which includes only one majority-Black district, “intentionally discriminated based on race.” They ordered the state to continue using a court-imposed map containing two districts where Black residents compose a majority or close to it. Both of those seats currently are held by Democrats.
The Associated Press has the whole story.
