Tracking states’ unprecedented redistricting efforts

By Amy O’Kruk, Ethan Cohen, Renée Rigdon, Fredreka Schouten, CNN

(CNN) — Republicans suffered a late setback in the national fight over congressional maps but still have come out ahead in what could be a major boon to their efforts to protect their narrow majority ahead of the midterm elections in November.

In the latest development, the Missouri Supreme Court blocked a Republican-drawn map which likely would’ve flipped a Democratic seat in that state. The state attorney general has said she’ll appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The decision was a late win for Democrats after the Supreme Court’s decision earlier this year to gut a significant part of the Voting Rights Act led to new maps in several Republican states and a decision from Virginia’s highest court blocked a new Democratic-friendly plan voters had approved.

Those developments marked a major shift in Republicans’ favor in the battle that President Donald Trump and his party launched last year. It had previously appeared headed towards a virtual draw, with Democratic states all but canceling out Republican redraws.

While Republicans might not win every district they’ve targeted on their new maps, the shifts will give them a boost as they try to hold the House in a challenging political environment.

CNN is tracking new maps and will continue to update with new state developments.

With a historically tight House of Representatives, redistricting has become a critical tactic to shaping the midterm races. Redistricting, or the process of redrawing congressional district boundaries, typically takes place just once a decade, as states respond to updated population counts after the decennial census.

The redistricting process is different in every state. In some places, state legislators can redraw the map on their own, and all that’s needed is the political will. In other states, the redraw might require changing the constitution, a lengthier process which often involves a direct vote of the people.

Overall, Republicans began the cycle with more opportunities to gain seats through new maps than Democrats did. Republicans have full control of government in more states and many Democratic states have ceded the map-drawing power to independent commissions, moves some of them have now reversed.

And now that mid-decade redistricting has become another political tool, it shows no signs of slowing down. Maryland voters will consider a measure this November that would give Democrats more freedom to draw a new map and several other states could have new maps before 2028.

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