High-profile Democratic governors are ready to fight against Texas Republicans’ efforts to draw new congressional maps favoring Democrats before the 2026 midterm elections. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has responded by holding a special statewide election on Nov. 4 for Californians to vote on new congressional maps likely favoring Democrats. Leading Democratic governors have backed Newsom and other blue state leaders who are taking an offensive position on redistricting, calling Texas Republicans’ efforts “unconstitutional” and “un-American.” They also say it’s time to fight against Trump-championed GOP redistricting, especially now that other Republican-led states, including Missouri, might follow suit.
Democrats have less of an opportunity to gerrymander nationwide than their peers across the aisle because of the varied rules of each state. Many more Democratic states use independent citizen-redistricting commissions, a practice used to maintain fairness and combat gerrymandering. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said that Wisconsin would not be making any changes to their maps, but other states may be “up against the wall” should make modifications.
Govs. Kelly, Walz, and a number of other Democratic governors also said they would steer clear of redrawing their maps this cycle, either because they lead predominantly Republican states or because their redistricting processes wouldn’t allow for a swift process to combat current GOP efforts. The idea of retaliating against Republicans on the matter of redistricting is a notable shift in strategy for Democrats, who have long touted their reverence for “playing by the rules” on constitutional issues.
