Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2025. (Office of the Governor)
After the consequential 2024 General Election in the United States, the battle for power is far from over. With the midterm elections only a year away, both Democrats and Republicans have been fighting an unprecedented war—one not of campaigning, but redistricting. A war that started in July 2025 when President Trump called on Texas House Republicans to redistrict mid-decade in hopes of gaining an advantage in the 2026 midterms.
Why Are Midterms Important?
In the 2024 General Election, Republicans won all branches of government. However, they only won the House of Representatives by a slim majority. In fact, Republicans have the smallest majority in recent congressional history. Although the Republicans have been able to pass their agenda with relative ease so far, a Democrat majority in the latter half of Trump’s term could be consequential. Presidential parties have often lost ground in the midterms, allowing the opposition party to block the incumbent’s agenda. In addition, congressional control could give the opposition party power over investigations, oversight, funding, appointments, and more. In extreme cases, like after the January 6th insurrection, with the House majority, Democrats were about to initiate Trump’s impeachment trials.
Redistricting and Gerrymandering:
Congressional districts are redrawn after a census of the American population, which takes place every decade. These district maps are usually drawn by the state government, as the constitution gives states the right to manage their own elections. However, with this, comes “gerrymandering”—where maps are intentionally drawn to benefit one political party. This can be done by concentrating opposition voters into one district to minimize representation or purposely spreading opposition voters across many convoluted districts to dilute their power.
Stephen Nass’s infographic explaining how districts can be drawn to favor a
political party (The Washington Post)
This practice has only increased since the 2019 Supreme Court ruling Rucho v. Common Cause, which ruled that federal courts have no power over reviewing partisan gerrymandering. Only racial gerrymandering, which enables the Voting Rights Act, can face strict scrutiny in the courts.
Trump Calls on Texas To Redistrict
Although gerrymandering has been prevalent across the nation, political parties have been subtle in their redistricting to avoid public backlash. Likely fearing a Democratic takeover of the House next midterm, Trump has since asked the Texas legislature to create new gerrymandered districts, claiming that he is “entitled to five more seats.” He has also urged other red states to create advantageous districts. This is an unprecedented move considering how blatant the calls for gerrymandering were, as well as the fact that the gerrymandering would occur mid-decade.
In an attempt to delay the passing of the new gerrymandered maps, Texas Democrats fled the state to break quorum before returning under threat of arrest. In the early hours of August 22, 2025, the new congressional map was passed by the Texas Senate, awaiting Governor Abbott’s signature.
As a result, legal challenges have already been filed against the new proposed maps in Texas, claiming that the maps are racially gerrymandered and violate election laws.
The Democratic Response
In return, Democratic states have threatened to redistrict in their own states to make up for the lost seats from GOP gerrymandering. However, many of these states face a bumpier road than Texas, most prominently, the Golden State. California Democrats have promised retaliation by similarly creating a new congressional map. However, California’s congressional maps are currently drawn by an independent commission enshrined in the state’s constitution, which was put in place by voter referendum in 2008. Because of this, suspending the independently drawn maps would require a constitutional amendment, meaning that voters would have to approve any such map.
Governor Newsom has since led the charge for Proposition 50, dubbed the “Election Rigging Response Act.” This proposal, if approved by voters in November, would temporarily suspend California’s independently drawn congressional districts, replacing them with a new map, contingent on if Texas moves forward with their map. Although some Democrats have criticized this move, Democratic leaders nationwide, such as former President Obama, have endorsed this proposition as an appropriate response to Texas’s actions.
National Implications
The redistricting war might not just stop at California and Texas. Republican and Democrat controlled states across the country have been considering following suit, threatening to significantly impact the 2026 midterms without a single vote being cast. In addition, attempts to change election laws are happening nationwide. Most notably, President Trump recently stated that he was going to issue an executive order ending mail-in voting, which would be unconstitutional. Despite the federal government having little power over the state election process, this could signal a push within the Republican party for voter suppression in the upcoming midterm, likely due to beliefs that Democrats benefit from higher turnout.
It is clear, though, that important battles on representation and voting laws are taking place in the legislatures, courts, and ballot boxes throughout the country. As political parties become increasingly aggressive, it is yet to be seen if guardrails such as the courts will be able to rein them in. Whether or not this conflict will reach a political equilibrium is unknown, but American voters are right to be concerned about partisan manipulation in their democracy. Come 2026, voters may risk facing a democratic republic that is neither democratic nor representative.
Written by Christian Do
