Congressional redistricting 101: States considering it

President Donald Trump’s call to redraw U.S. House districts ahead of the 2026 elections has led to a wave of political maneuvering among state-level Republicans and Democrats that continues to ripple across the country.

Politicians are considering a legal challenge to new congressional districts passed at Trump’s urging during a special legislative session in August. Civil rights groups and dozens of Black and Hispanic voters contend the new map intentionally reduces minority voters’ influence in violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution. They want to prevent the new districts from being used.

Republicans hold 25 of the 38 congressional seats in Texas. The revised map could give Republicans a shot at picking up five additional seats in next year’s elections.

CALIFORNIA

Ohio’s constitution requires new U.S. House districts because the ones adopted by Republican officials after the 2020 census didn’t have sufficient bipartisan support. If bipartisan consensus remains elusive, Republican lawmakers in November could adopt revised districts without need of any Democratic votes.

UTAH

Utah’s Republican-led Legislature passed a revised U.S. House map that could give Democrats an improved chance at competing for a seat. Republicans currently hold all four of the state’s seats.

The revised map would place Democratic-leaning Salt Lake City in a single district that stretches into rural areas, instead of splitting the city among multiple districts. But the revision still must be reviewed by a judge, who is expected to approve a new map by November.

A Utah judge in August a recent Associated Press analysis.

Although Democrats and Republicans each benefited from the way districts were drawn in particular states, those advantages essentially canceled each other out. When adding results from all states, the AP’s analysis showed that Democrats nationwide won just a fraction of a seat more than expected last year. Because congressional seats aren’t allotted by fractions, the net result was that each party’s share of House seats corresponded with their share of the votes.