EXPLAINER: The Mid-Decade Redistricting Race

I don’t get a ton of comments on my videos, but I felt like I got one that was worth addressing.

In response to my video about the Supreme Court’s recent decision that defanged the Voting Rights Act — and how Alabama’s GOP-controlled legislature is using a Congressional map that was struck down years prior — one TikTok user said, “Oh plzzz Blue states do it too.”

And you know what… they’re right! Red and blue states have redistricted to gain a political advantage. But this deserves some context.

Typically, states redraw their maps every 10 years after a census. But mid-decade redistricting isn’t uncommon.

One prominent example was the 2003 Texas redistricting which benefitted Republicans. The Supreme Court said most of that redistricting plan was constitutional.

The most recent push started in 2025 when President Trump urged Texas Republicans to redraw Congressional maps to create more House seats for his party.

“We have an opportunity in Texas to pick up five seats,” President Trump said on CNBC in August of 2025. “We are entitled to five more seats.”

Since then, Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, California, Utah, Virginia have gotten in on the action. And the Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais decision kicked the door open for Alabama, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Tennessee to join the party — even as some primary contests are already happening.

Litigation is still pending in some states but this map is a good visual that shows which party is benefitting most.

So, yes, blue states do it too, but, right now, Republicans have the advantage — in part by carving up majority Black districts — as they try to maintain control of the House through the midterms.

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