Republicans rush – With new Supreme Court scrutiny weakening parts of the Voting Rights Act, Republican-led states are racing to pass congressional maps before November. In South Carolina, senators and Democrats are weighing a plan that could reshape the state’s only Democratic-
By the time the calendar flips to midterms, the redistricting fight may already be decided—not in Washington, but in courtrooms and state capitals where maps move fast and questions move faster.
President Donald Trump has urged Republican-led states to redraw congressional districts now. even though redistricting typically follows the census at the start of a decade. The push is meant to keep the GOP’s narrow House majority intact as political headwinds build and Trump’s approval ratings remain in the negative.
The urgency comes after a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision weakened minority protections under the federal Voting Rights Act. In just weeks. new House districts have already been enacted in Tennessee and Alabama. and maps have cleared at least one legislative chamber in Louisiana and South Carolina. But new maps still face delays and uncertainty before they can be used in the November elections.
Since Trump first urged Texas to redraw its voting districts last year. Republicans have argued that aggressive timing could translate into political gains. They think they could win as many as 15 additional seats from new House districts in seven states. Democrats have countered only partially, hoping to pick up six seats from new districts in two states.
That statewide sprint is now playing out in different ways—sometimes in special sessions, sometimes in legislative committee rooms, and often in front of judges.
South Carolina Republicans face internal doubts
In South Carolina, Republican Gov. Henry McMaster called lawmakers into special session to consider congressional redistricting. The Republican-led House passed a plan early Wednesday that would improve the party’s chances of winning the state’s only Democratic-held seat.
Senators were scheduled to meet Saturday for the third straight day to consider the redistricting plan, but passage was not guaranteed. Democrats oppose the measure, and some Republicans also have reservations.
One worry among GOP senators is that an effort to win the district held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn could backfire by spreading so many Democrats into Republican-held districts that those seats become vulnerable.
South Carolina’s primaries are set for June 9. The legislation revising the districts would set a new congressional primary for August.
In Louisiana, lawmakers are working from two competing map drafts
Louisiana’s process has been driven by the aftermath of the Supreme Court striking down the state’s congressional map. That map contained two majority-Black districts held by Democrats, and the Court ruled it was an illegal racial gerrymander.
The state House was expected to debate a revised map next week that would significantly reshape one of those districts while giving Republicans an improved chance to win it. While Republicans who dominate the Legislature were aligned on the broad contours of the new map. the House and Senate were not aligned on details—specifically how certain localities would be divided. including which parishes would be kept whole and which would be sliced up.
A House committee tweaked a map previously passed by the Senate. If the House and Senate pass different versions, a joint committee of lawmakers could negotiate a compromise before the session ends June 1.
Republican Gov. Jeff Landry postponed Louisiana’s May 16 congressional primary until later this summer to allow time for redistricting.
Alabama is in court over whether its new districts can be used
In Alabama, a federal court heard arguments Friday on a request to block the state from using congressional districts that could help Republicans gain an additional seat in the midterm elections. The hearing was part of a long-running legal case.
Republican state lawmakers approved a 2023 map that included one majority-Black district. The court previously blocked that map and ordered a new one, which resulted in Democrats winning two seats in which Black residents comprise a majority or close to it.
The U.S. Supreme Court later overturned that order and directed the lower court to reexamine the case in light of the Louisiana decision.
Attorneys for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the ACLU—representing Black voters—want a three-judge panel to prevent Alabama from using the 2023 map. They argued a preliminary injunction is warranted because the Louisiana decision should not affect a separate finding that Alabama’s map was intentionally discriminatory against Black voters.
Alabama’s primary elections were May 19. But new congressional primaries are scheduled for August for the districts that are different under the 2023 map.
Tennessee’s map is challenged over special-session limits
Tennessee’s redistricting fight is also heading to court. A state court panel heard arguments Thursday in another NAACP lawsuit seeking to invalidate Tennessee’s new congressional map.
The map carves up a Memphis-based, majority-Black district represented by a Democrat. The lawsuit argues the new map could give Republicans an improved chance to sweep all nine of the state’s seats.
The lawsuit contends the General Assembly included provisions in the redistricting legislation that were not specifically authorized or necessary under a proclamation by Republican Gov. Bill Lee that set the agenda for the special session. Among those provisions, the lawsuit points to a measure repealing a state law that prohibits mid-decade redistricting.
The claim is that if lawmakers exceeded their authority, the new map cannot be used.
Taken together, the timeline is driving the stakes. New districts have already been enacted in Tennessee and Alabama. while Louisiana and South Carolina are still working through legislative chambers and legal threats before November. In each state—whether the dispute is about racial gerrymandering findings. whether a map can be used after Supreme Court changes. or whether lawmakers stayed inside the bounds of their own special-session authority—the question is the same: who gets to decide the lines voters will see. and how quickly.
Associated Press writers Jack Brook, Kim Chandler and Jeffrey Collins contributed.
redistricting midterm elections House majority Voting Rights Act U.S. Supreme Court South Carolina Louisiana Alabama Tennessee NAACP Legal Defense Fund ACLU Henry McMaster Jeff Landry Bill Lee