2026 redistricting – Heading into the 2026 midterms, new congressional maps are settling in as U.S. Supreme Court and state court rulings reshape Voting Rights Act enforcement and change how many House seats Republicans and Democrats could win this fall.
For Democrats. the last stretch of redistricting litigation has felt less like a cleanup and more like a deadline that won’t move. By the end of April. the party had drawn enough Democratic-leaning seats to level out the fight over new congressional maps for the midterms that President Donald Trump had started a year earlier. Then the courts intervened.
The U.S. Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act. opening the door for Republican-led states in the South to eliminate majority-Black districts held by Democrats. A week later. the Virginia Supreme Court blocked the state from implementing a new map favoring Democrats that voters had approved in a special election.
Now, with the general election five months away, the 2026 redistricting dust is starting to settle. Over the past year. 10 states have implemented new congressional boundaries for the 2026 election cycle. with Alabama. Louisiana. and Tennessee most recently taking action after the Supreme Court ruling. Litigation remains ongoing in several states. but under the new maps. Republicans are positioned to gain as many as 16 House seats this fall. compared to six for Democrats.
Alabama: up to 1 Republican seat
The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for Alabama to use its preferred congressional map on Tuesday night. The state will now use a map originally drawn in 2023. which a federal court previously barred it from implementing for discriminating against Black voters. Under the new approach, the map is likely to reduce the number of Democratic-held House seats from two to one.
Louisiana: up to 1 Republican seat
After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander as part of its major April redistricting ruling. Republican lawmakers moved to pass a new map eliminating one of the state’s two majority-Black districts. The lone majority-Black district favoring Democrats in Louisiana—where a third of the population is Black—now runs from New Orleans to Baton Rouge.
Tennessee: up to 1 Republican seat
Tennessee’s Republican-led Legislature passed a new congressional map carving up the state’s lone majority-Black district in Memphis just days after the Supreme Court’s ruling. The revised lines pair liberal urban areas with rural Republican parts of the state that stretch hundreds of miles away from Memphis. Under the redrawn boundaries, Tennessee is likely to elect an all-Republican delegation to Congress this fall.
Florida: up to 4 Republican seats
In April, GOP legislators approved a map preferred by Gov. Ron DeSantis that creates four additional Republican-leaning seats. The change has triggered a legal showdown. with Republicans seeking to use the Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act ruling to bolster an effort to nullify Florida’s anti-gerrymandering rules.
California: up to 4–5 Democratic seats
Democrats’ most aggressive counterpunch to Republican redistricting efforts came in California. Last November, voters approved a congressional map passed by the Democratic-led Legislature and championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom that could produce upward of five more seats for the party.
Utah: up to 1 new Democratic seat
A Utah judge gave Democrats a surprise boost last year by ruling that a Republican-drawn map violated state anti-gerrymandering rules. In its place, the judge approved a new map with a solidly Democratic seat based in Salt Lake City.
Ohio: up to 1–2 new Republican seats
Ohio’s redistricting commission was scheduled to redraw its congressional map last year after failing to reach bipartisan consensus earlier in the decade. While lawmakers fought in other states, members of the Ohio commission cut a deal. The approved map gives the GOP a modest boost, turning two districts—currently held by Democratic Reps. Marcy Kaptur and Greg Landsman—more Republican while making a third more safely Democratic.
North Carolina: up to 1 new Republican seat
Republican legislators in North Carolina passed a new map targeting the 1st District, represented by Democratic Rep. Don Davis. The new lines made the seat more Republican-friendly by moving Democratic areas into a neighboring district.
Missouri: up to 1 new Republican seat
Missouri Republicans put a new map in place aimed at Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s district, splitting parts of Kansas City into two more rural and more Republican-leaning districts. Activists submitted signatures to put a referendum on the ballot to block the map. but a state court ruled the map could be used for this year’s election amid the ballot measure campaign.
Texas: up to 3–5 Republican seats
Texas kicked off this cycle’s redistricting fight last summer. drawing a map at Trump’s urging that could allow Republicans to pick up five seats. Still. some Democrats argue that Trump’s electoral success in 2024 won’t necessarily carry downballot. which could limit the gains Republicans hope to make in 2026.
The throughline in 2026 has been timing: courts changed the legal rules midstream. and then states moved to use the new opportunities fast—often before voters could respond again. With that shift. the same congressional boundaries that once tended to be redrawn after the census have become something closer to a moving target. with Republicans positioned to benefit from the new maps in multiple states while Democrats race to secure room through litigation and voter-approved plans.
What’s coming next
The map-drawing battles for 2026 are nearing an end. but they are set to return ahead of the next election. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has called for a special legislative session later this month to take up a new congressional map for the 2028 cycle. and Mississippi Republicans are also expected to tackle redistricting.
On the Democratic side, New York lawmakers are expected to pass legislation this week that would pave the way for new district lines ahead of 2028. Democrats in Colorado, Maryland, New Jersey and Washington state are also considering their own efforts.
The midterms are only five months away, but the next fight is already being scheduled—set to begin wherever the courts and state legislatures decide the rules of representation will land next.
redistricting midterms 2026 U.S. Supreme Court Voting Rights Act Alabama map Louisiana map Tennessee map Florida map California map Utah map Ohio map North Carolina map Missouri map Texas map Brian Kemp 2028 redistricting