{"id":137534,"date":"2026-02-18T16:34:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T16:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/137534\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T16:34:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T16:34:23","slug":"tracking-the-battle-to-reshape-congress-for-the-midterms-101","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/137534\/","title":{"rendered":"Tracking the Battle to Reshape Congress for the Midterms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The first primaries<\/a> for the 2026 midterm elections are scheduled for early March. For Republican and Democratic state lawmakers still trying to redraw district maps<\/a> for the U.S. House of Representatives, where Republicans have a razor-thin margin<\/a>, there is not much time left.<\/p>\n

While legal challenges remain \u2014 including a potentially seismic Supreme Court decision<\/a> on the Voting Rights Act \u2014 here is a breakdown of states where maps affecting November\u2019s election have already been redone, or states have taken action to make changes.<\/p>\n

These states have changed their maps<\/p>\n

\"Silhouette Texas could add 5 Republican seats in the midterms<\/p>\n

The first group to heed President Trump\u2019s call<\/a> last year to reshape Congress was the Republican majority in Texas.<\/p>\n

Democrats staged a two-week walkout<\/a>, arguing that the new districts would illegally dilute Black and Hispanic representation. But Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed the measure into law in August, and the Supreme Court upheld the map<\/a> in December.<\/p>\n

\"Silhouette California could add 5 Democratic seats<\/p>\n

In response<\/a>, Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, persuaded the legislature in August, and voters in November, to counterpunch.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court, echoing its Texas order, upheld California\u2019s new map<\/a> in February, dismissing Republican claims that it illegally favored Latino voters.<\/p>\n

\"Silhouette Missouri could add 1 Republican seat<\/p>\n

Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican, in late September signed into law a new map<\/a> that would split Kansas City, a Democratic stronghold, into rural and largely Republican districts.<\/p>\n

Republicans hope to oust the longtime Representative Emanuel Cleaver, who was the first Black mayor of Kansas City. But lawsuits are in progress<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Silhouette North Carolina could add 1 Republican seat<\/p>\n

The Republican-controlled legislature approved a new map<\/a> in October that imperils the re-election chances of Representative Don Davis, a Democrat, who represents the northeastern corner of the state.<\/p>\n

Under the state Constitution, Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, cannot veto the new map.<\/p>\n

\"Silhouette Ohio could add 1 to 2 Republican seats<\/p>\n

Even before Mr. Trump\u2019s push, Ohio was required, under its state Constitution, to redraw its congressional maps. So in October, a state commission approved plans<\/a> to dilute Democratic-held districts near Toledo and Cincinnati.<\/p>\n

\"Silhouette Utah could add 1 Democratic seat<\/p>\n

A state judge in November tossed out a map<\/a> drawn by the Republican-dominated legislature as being unfairly tilted against Democrats. The judge then adopted an alternative proposed by a centrist group that preserved a Democratic-leaning district surrounding Salt Lake City.<\/p>\n

The Utah legislature has appealed<\/a> to the Utah Supreme Court, while two of state\u2019s congressional Republicans have filed a federal lawsuit<\/a> to void the map.<\/p>\n

These states are trying to change their maps<\/p>\n

\"Silhouette Florida could add 2 to 4 Republican seats in the midterms<\/p>\n

Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has proposed<\/a> that a special legislative session be convened in late April on redistricting. Republicans, who control most of the state\u2019s congressional seats, are eyeing a gain<\/a> of two to four more in central and South Florida.<\/p>\n

\"Silhouette Virginia could add 2 to 4 Democratic seats<\/p>\n

The Democratic legislature has passed a constitutional amendment<\/a> allowing lawmakers to redraw congressional districts before the midterms. If voters say yes to a referendum on April 21, the Democrats could net between two and four seats under a proposed new map<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A state judge initially blocked<\/a> the effort to change the map. But the Virginia Supreme Court has allowed the referendum to proceed, and says that it will rule<\/a> afterward on whether the plan is legal.<\/p>\n

\"Silhouette New York could add 1 Democratic seat<\/p>\n

A state judge has ruled<\/a> that a district represented by Nicole Malliotakis, New York City\u2019s only Republican member of Congress, disenfranchises Black and Latino voters. The judge has ordered an independent redistricting commission to come up with new maps for the district, which includes Staten Island and part of Brooklyn. Republicans are appealing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Silhouette Maryland could add 1 Democratic seat<\/p>\n

In Maryland, a latecomer, the House of Delegates has approved<\/a> a plan that would ask voters to ratify new congressional boundaries in November \u2014 while also choosing the candidates to represent those districts.<\/p>\n

The State Senate appears reluctant<\/a>, so far. But if the plan proceeds, Democrats could turn what is now a 7-1 advantage into 8-0.<\/p>\n

Reporting contributed by Nick Corasaniti.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first primaries for the 2026 midterm elections are scheduled for early March. For Republican and Democratic state…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":137216,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,2136,17077,17075,651,1452,416,47837,3640,859,17073,20511,46937,16823,9,24,49,1064,63,1758,58310,5285,35417,11771,1777,129,131,130,1069,1876,1844,418],"class_list":{"0":"post-137534","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-bronx","8":"tag-bronx","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-courts-and-the-judiciary","11":"tag-decisions-and-verdicts","12":"tag-democratic-party","13":"tag-donald-j","14":"tag-elections","15":"tag-federal-state-relations-us","16":"tag-florida","17":"tag-house-of-representatives","18":"tag-law-and-legislation","19":"tag-maryland","20":"tag-midterm-elections-2026","21":"tag-missouri","22":"tag-new-york","23":"tag-new-york-city","24":"tag-new-york-state","25":"tag-north-carolina","26":"tag-nyc","27":"tag-ohio","28":"tag-redistricting-and-reapportionment","29":"tag-republican-party","30":"tag-state-legislatures","31":"tag-suits-and-litigation-civil","32":"tag-texas","33":"tag-the-bronx","34":"tag-the-bronx-headlines","35":"tag-the-bronx-news","36":"tag-trump","37":"tag-united-states-politics-and-government","38":"tag-utah","39":"tag-virginia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}