Where the national redistricting fight is heading in 2026

The 2026 midterm elections are fast approaching, but for some states, their congressional boundary lines are far from settled. After six states enacted new congressional maps this year, a handful of others could join the mid-decade redistricting fight next year that could help determine which party controls the House. “We’re still squarely in the middle of this redistricting crisis,” said John Bisognano, president of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. The redrawing of district lines typically happens at the start of each decade after the new census results. But President Donald Trump kicked off an unusually frenzied midcycle redistricting battle over the summer, when he called on Republican-controlled states across the country to draw new maps to shore up the GOP's narrow House majority. Texas , Missouri , and North Carolina all enacted new maps, which in total could net Republicans as many as seven seats. But Republicans were not able to build as robust of an advantage as they initially hoped. California Democrats responded with a map, approved by voters last month , that could allow the party to gain up to five seats and effectively cancel out Texas' effort. Ohio Republicans cut a deal with Democrats on a previously scheduled map redo that may only net the GOP one or two seats, which did not go as far as many in the party had wanted. In Utah, a court-ordered map resulted in a new Democratic-leaning district. And earlier this month, Indiana lawmakers dealt national Republicans their biggest setback yet by rejecting a redrawn map designed to give the party two additional seats after a monthslong pressure campaign from Trump and his allies. All told, Republicans end the year with as many as nine newly favorable seats, compared to six for Democrats. Here is where the redistricting fight is heading in the new year. Virginia Virginia Democrats made a surprise move this fall to move forward with a complicated legislative maneuver to redraw the state’s congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterms. In October, the Democratic-controlled Legislature took the first step by passing a constitutional amendment that would allow lawmakers to draw a new map if another state does the same outside of the usual decennial cycle, absent a court order. The amendment will need to pass the Legislature again next year - when it will include even more Democrats, thanks to strong showing for the party in November's elections - before going to voters for final approval. The process is necessary to bypass Virginia's bipartisan redistricting commission, which voters approved just five years ago. Assuming that all goes as planned for Democrats in the blue-leaning state, legislative leaders have signaled they could target as many as four Republican seats in a new map. “Our congressional delegation is 6-5 - six Democrats, five Republicans. Ten-1 is not out of the realm,” Virginia House Speaker Don Scott said in early December. Under the current lines, Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger carried 8 of the state's 11 congressional districts in the November election. Virginia...

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