The fight over who draws America’s congressional maps has erupted into an all-out political brawl, with Texas and California leading rival camps—and the rest of the country bracing for the fallout. On August 14, 2025, Texas Republicans, backed by former President Donald Trump, launched a high-profile push to redraw congressional districts in a bid to secure five additional GOP seats in the U.S. House for the 2026 elections. Their move, described by many as an open embrace of gerrymandering, quickly set off a chain reaction across the nation.
Gerrymandering, the art of manipulating district boundaries to favor one party, is nothing new. But as The Associated Press reported, the current wave of redistricting is unusually brazen. Trump’s call for Texas to "redraw the maps to better ensure that Republicans retain control of the House" has made what was once a whispered tactic into a rallying cry. "They may still pass these maps, but we’re going to do everything we can to awaken America," said Texas state Rep. Jon Rosenthal, a Democrat from Houston, in an interview with the AP.
In a dramatic protest, dozens of Texas Democrats fled the state, denying the Legislature a quorum for nearly two weeks and halting the redistricting vote. Without enough lawmakers present, the process ground to a halt. Governor Gregg Abbott, however, vowed to keep calling the Legislature back until Democrats return, threatening arrests, fines, and even removal from office if they continue their boycott. Past attempts by Democrats to stall legislation by leaving the state have only delayed, not stopped, Republican priorities.
The Texas standoff quickly inspired a wave of tit-for-tat responses. In California, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom responded with a threat of his own: if Texas moves ahead, California Democrats will reshape their own congressional maps, aiming to cut away five Republican seats and shore up vulnerable Democratic districts. Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential contender, sent a pointed letter to Trump, warning that the president was “playing with fire.”
Unlike Texas, California’s maps are drawn by an independent commission every ten years, after the census. For Democrats to retake control of the process, they must call a special election this November and convince voters to hand mapmaking power back to the Legislature. If successful, California could redraw its districts mid-decade—an unprecedented move for a state that has long prided itself on nonpartisan redistricting.
Missouri’s Republican majority, meanwhile, is preparing for a special session on redistricting, partly in response to California’s threats. The state Senate has already spent $46,000 on software and staff training for the coming battle. Republican House Majority Leader Alex Riley told the AP a special session is “pretty likely,” adding that he’s discussed the matter with White House staff. Republicans currently control six of Missouri’s eight congressional seats and see an opportunity to target a Democratic-held district in Kansas City.
Other states are taking notice. In New York, Democrats have introduced legislation to allow mid-decade redistricting, though any changes would require a constitutional amendment—meaning the earliest new maps could be in place is 2028. Maryland’s Democratic leaders are promising legislative action to trigger redistricting if Texas or other states move ahead prematurely. Florida’s Republican leaders have signaled support for joining the fray, with Speaker Daniel Perez promising to take up redistricting through a special committee and Governor Ron DeSantis telling the public to "stay tuned." In Ohio, a state law already requires new maps before the 2026 midterms, while Indiana’s Governor Mike Braun is considering his options after recent discussions with Vice President JD Vance.
For advocates of redistricting reform, the escalating battle is deeply troubling. In Wisconsin, where the push for an independent process has been gaining steam, leaders of the Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition say they’re alarmed by the partisan arms race unfolding in other states. Debra Cronmiller, Executive Director of the Wisconsin League of Women Voters, told Wisconsin Public Radio the situation "is so anti-democratic. I just hate it at its core. It is what politics has disintegrated to at this moment in time. And I do think that it is as clear an indication that … we are in a constitutional crisis, frankly. I don’t know what the right response is."
Wisconsin has its own complicated history with redistricting. Since 2011, maps drawn by Republicans have given the party a durable advantage in the Legislature. In late 2023, the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s liberal majority declared the state’s legislative maps unconstitutional, forcing lawmakers to approve new boundaries that have since resulted in smaller Republican majorities. Yet, the congressional districts—based largely on the 2011 maps—remain in place, and lawsuits filed in July 2025 are challenging their legality ahead of the 2026 midterms.
The Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition has proposed draft legislation to create a randomly selected, nine-person independent redistricting commission with strict eligibility rules and a three-quarters approval threshold for new maps. But as Organizing Director iuscely Flores told WPR, "We can’t save democracy by suppressing voters, and this has to be an opportunity to think about a new process and standards, especially in Wisconsin, and we need to get creative. We need better systems in place. We need systems in place to make sure that politicians don’t choose their voters."
Despite widespread public support—polling from Marquette University Law School between 2019 and 2021 shows strong majorities of Wisconsin voters favor a nonpartisan commission—none of the coalition’s proposals have come close to passing the Legislature. The ongoing feud between Texas and California, Flores warned, "will only make it more difficult to enact reforms in states like Wisconsin."
Even as the rhetoric heats up, the practical implications are enormous. With both parties openly threatening to redraw districts for partisan gain, the prospect of fair, competitive elections seems increasingly remote. As Cronmiller put it, "Would it have occurred to me that a state like California would be willing to throw away what has been the model for independent redistricting commissions around the nation? I’ve got to tell you, that was not on my radar. So, I am horrified to see this happening, but it never occurred to me that we would have an administration say we’re entitled to five more seats."
Across the country, the standoff has become a test of both political will and the resilience of American democracy. Whether the coming months bring sweeping changes to the way congressional maps are drawn—or a renewed push for independent, nonpartisan reform—remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: the battle lines, both literal and figurative, have never been more sharply drawn.
