Redistricting: What’s Next?

Other states could join the national scramble to redraw congressional maps after Missouri Republicans approved a plan targeting a seat that’s long been held by Democrats. 

That makes Missouri the third state to enter the fray of a growing national redistricting battle, which began after Texas took up President Donald Trump’s call for Republican states to redistrict. 

Texas’s plan would add five new Republican seats. It prompted California Gov. Gavin Newsom to respond in kind with a plan to add five new Democrat-held seats. 

With Missouri’s entry into the battle, other Republican states could follow suit. Several Democrat-led states, meanwhile, have vowed to respond by redistricting their own maps. Others have expressed interest, but may face substantial hurdles to following through on changes. 

Here are the states that could join in the redistricting arms race. 

Ohio was already required by law to redraw its congressional map prior to the issue becoming a national controversy. 

The current maps, drawn in 2022, were passed without the support of half of the legislature’s Democrats, which is required under law in the Buckeye State. 

Republicans are expected to seek to make it more difficult for Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) and Emilia Sykes (D-Ohio) to win reelection. 

Maryland could also go after its state’s sole Republican: House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.). 

At the end of August, a lawmaker introduced legislation that would flip Harris’s seat to Democratic hands. 

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has given tentative backing to redistricting in the state, saying Maryland would “keep all options on the table.”  

Indiana lawmakers could follow the lead of other Republican states. 

Lawmakers in the state were initially resistant, but have faced a lobbying campaign to join in redistricting over the recent weeks. In early August, Vice President JD Vance visited the state. 

Democrats currently hold two of the state’s nine seats.

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun has not yet committed to redistricting the state or called a special session for such a purpose. 

Another key Democratic state, Illinois, is also considering redistricting.

During an event in early August, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said of redistricting: “Everything has to be on the table.”

The state currently has three Republican seats. 

Redrawing the map here faces challenges: for one, critics allege the state’s maps are already heavily gerrymandered.

Republicans are also eying potential pickup opportunities in the Sunshine State. The former battleground has veered sharply toward Republicans in recent years, with Trump winning by double-digit margins in 2024. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been open about his hopes that the legislature will redraw Florida’s maps. 

Currently, eight of Florida’s 28 congressional districts are held by Democrats. 

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) recently suggested that if Republicans in the state move forward with redistricting, they could flip “two or three [seats] in Florida.”

During the early days of the redistricting fight, some Democrats—including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)—raised interest in redrawing the Empire State’s congressional maps. 

In July, Jeffries said he spoke to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul about redistricting their state; Hochul initially expressed openness. 

Since then, however, the proposal has lost momentum as legal challenges mounted that made it unlikely that new maps could be approved in the state before the 2026 midterm elections. 

Nebraska is dominated by Republicans, but Rep. Don Bacon’s (R-Neb.) decision to step down from his Omaha-area seat has prompted new enthusiasm from Democrats about their prospects in the district. 

Bacon has repeatedly managed to fight off challengers in the state’s Second Congressional District. 

In 2024, the congressional centrist defeated Tony Vargas in a rematch, with Bacon winning by a margin of 1.86 percent. 

State lawmakers told The Nebraska Examiner that they were skeptical about the prospects for redistricting in the state, which would need the support of at least 25 state senators to overcome a filibuster. 

Still, the White House could push for Nebraska to shore up Republicans’ position in the Second District.  

Utah has been ordered to redraw its maps by a state-level judge, who claims that the current maps violate anti-gerrymandering laws.

Currently, Republicans hold all four of the state’s congressional districts. 

All four of the districts converge in the Salt Lake City area. Salt Lake City, the largest metro in the state, also contains the highest concentration of Democratic voters. The current congressional maps have a mix of urban and rural voters in each district. 

At the end of August, Utah Third District Judge Dianna Gibson ordered legislators to redraw the state’s congressional maps, ruling that the current map violated state gerrymandering rules. 

Democrats hope that the process may result in Salt Lake City voters being gathered into a single district, which could give the party a pickup opportunity. However, Republicans in the Utah State House say they plan to keep the rural–urban mix in each district.

—Joseph Lord

BOOKMARKS

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Donald Trump is sending National Guard troops to Memphis, Tennessee, to tackle the city’s crime problem. Check out Kevin Stocklin’s latest report for more details.

ABC reporter Matt Gutman has apologized for calling texts sent between Charlie Kirk’s suspected assassin and his lover “very touching.” Gutman said he was trying to highlight the contrast between Kirk’s brutal murder and the suspect’s interactions with his boyfriend. 

Poul Thorsen, a vaccine researcher wanted for fraud by American authorities, has been arrested in Germany. Thorsen, a native of Denmark, allegedly stole more than $1 million in grant money the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had awarded for autism research. 

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced this week that the European Union will try to hasten a plan to phase out its dependence on Russian gas and oil. “Russia’s war economy, sustained by revenues from fossil fuels, is financing the bloodshed in Ukraine,” she said. 

—Stacy Robinson