by WorldTribune Staff, November 16, 2025 Real World News
Redistricting in Texas, Ohio, North Carolina, and Missouri is expected to give Republicans a gain of nine seats in the 2026 midterms, offsetting the plus-six seats Democrats are expected to get from redrawn electoral maps, an analysis said.
Currently, Republicans hold a five-seat majority, 219-214, with two vacancies. Democrats will keep the seat of Rep. Sylvester Turner in Texas. He passed away in March. In Tennessee, a special election will be held on Dec. 2 to fill the seat of Republican Rep. Mark Green, who resigned in July.
“A spate of redistricting efforts began earlier this year when Texas approved a map that would grow Republicans’ control of the state’s House delegation. California then responded in kind, approving a map to increase Democrats’ control by the same margins,” a Nov. 15 analysis by The Epoch Times noted.
“Since then, a flurry of other states have finalized redistricting, are moving toward doing so, or are considering proposals.”
Texas added five new Republican-leaning districts for the 2026 midterms. The move was made in response to a letter from the Department of Justice alleging that some districts in the state were unconstitutionally drawn by grouping minorities into a majority. President Donald Trump signaled his support for the state’s redistricting.
The new map prompted Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat, to announce his retirement.
On Oct. 31, the Ohio Redistricting Commission unanimously gave the green light to a new congressional district map put forward by the state’s GOP majority. The new map, if finalized, could increase the number of Republicans in the state’s congressional delegation from 10 to 12.
In California, Voters approved a ballot measure on Nov. 4 to counter Texas’s changes, adding five new Democrat-leaning districts in line with a request from Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Missouri’s newly drawn map should help the GOP pick up an additional seat. Gov. Mike Kehoe signed off on the new map in September after the state legislature approved it.
“Missourians are more alike than we are different, and our values, across both sides of the aisle, are closer to each other than those of the congressional representation of states like New York, California, and Illinois,” he said at the time.
North Carolina’s new map—approved by the Republican-controlled legislature in October—should also give the GOP an additional seat. Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, did not have the power to veto the new map.
In Utah, after a judge struck down the map created by Republicans after the 2020 census, the Beehive State created a new Salt Lake City-based competitive seat for Democrats. Republicans are planning to appeal the decision to the Utah Supreme Court.
Of the states considering redistricting, Florida gets the most attention as it could give the GOP several more seats.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has expressed approval for redistricting.
“I think the state is malapportioned,” he said. “So I do think it would be appropriate to do a redistricting in the mid-decade. So we’re working through what that would look like, but I can tell you, just look at how the population has shifted in different parts of the state over a four-to-five-year period. It’s been really significant.”
In New York, Democrat state lawmakers have suggested a constitutional amendment that would need to be approved twice by the legislature and then by voters.
Analysis: Redistricting could decide control of House in 2026 added by Editor Two on
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