Redistricting Battle Escalates for 2028 Elections
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- Republicans adopted new midterm maps in Texas, Florida, Missouri, Ohio, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Louisiana, and are now eyeing further 2028 redraws in states like Georgia, where Gov. Brian Kemp has called a June special legislative session.
- The Supreme Court's recent decision to bar race-based gerrymandering — a practice protected by the Voting Rights Act for over six decades — has created new GOP pickup opportunities heading into both the midterms and 2028.
- House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) called for a "decisive and overwhelming response" before 2028, with Democrats planning to tenaciously gerrymander in blue states even as they push for an ultimate ban on partisan redistricting.
- Louisiana, Missouri, and Texas adopted midterm maps that left available the opportunity to push further red in 2028, while Indiana, Kansas, and South Carolina are also being eyed as potential new battlegrounds — the last targeting Rep. James Clyburn's sole Democratic seat.
- President Trump initiated the redistricting fight in Texas last year, though the article notes some election experts believe pressure on state Republicans could abate once he leaves the White House after 2028.
- Polls show an overwhelming majority of voters oppose partisan gerrymandering, but leaders of both parties have calculated that the raw seat-count advantage outweighs the potential political blowback.
Why it matters: The 2028 redistricting cycle threatens to expand GOP map-drawing from seven midterm-cycle states to as many as a dozen, with the Supreme Court's race-based gerrymandering ban opening new doors. Both parties have decided the raw seat-count math is worth the political cost — despite polls showing most Americans oppose partisan map-drawing — meaning the 2028 House battlefield will be shaped long before voters cast a single ballot.
