This week marks a flashpoint in an escalating and unprecedented fight over redistricting, with the country’s two most populous states taking center stage and control of the US House during the second half of President Donald Trump’s term potentially at stake.

California lawmakers have released a draft map that could reshape congressional district lines across the state. If approved by voters in a special election this November, the new boundaries would take effect before the 2026 midterm elections.

The proposed congressional districts are fueling a redistricting battle at the Texas Capitol and could have national consequences. A bipartisan war is already brewing across the U.S.

RCP senior elections analyst Sean Trende, who advised Virginia's post-2020 redistricting, said Democrats may regret redrawing California's maps in response to a controversial move from Texas Republicans. With many blue states already "maximal gerrymanders," Trende explained how the GOP has a lot...

In North Carolina, Republicans are a few votes shy of a supermajority in one chamber but still control the redistricting process because the state’s congressional maps are not subject to veto and therefore can be passed by a simple majority in the legislature.

Kamala Harris endorsed the redraw at a Teamsters National Black Caucus conference on Saturday. In her first public comments on California’s redistricting play, she said she’s “proud” that her home state’s politicians were going to take a national redistricting war “to the voters, take it to the streets.”

The blistering Texas summer is usually a time when candidates announce their campaigns and begin raising money for the election year ahead. This Texas summer has been cooler than normal, and so has the announcement period for some of the high-profile 2026 races.

Many state delegations are already under single-party control. New maps could tighten the partisan grip while decreasing the importance of general elections.