With the Nov. 3 midterm elections about two and a half weeks away, the congressional maps that voters will use have been shaped by a year of redistricting fights in statehouses and courts. The most consequential recent event was the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which narrowed Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and prompted several states to revisit their district lines.

The ruling

According to the Washington Examiner, the Court ruled 6-3 in an opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito, making it significantly harder for voters to challenge maps that allegedly dilute minority representation. Louisiana’s congressional map, which included a second majority-Black district created after years of litigation, was invalidated. The decision came in late April 2026, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) reported in a summary of a Stateline analysis.

Louisiana officials halted the state’s May 16 House primaries after the decision. Gov. Jeff Landry praised the ruling and directed lawmakers to pass a new map and set a revised election timeline, the Washington Examiner reported. Rep. Troy Carter, a Louisiana Democrat, said the effects extend to “every congressional district, every school board district, every legislative district.”

States that redrew maps

As of the NCSL summary, dated June 1, nine states had redrawn their congressional lines in the current cycle. Projections cited there came from the Cook Political Report, which estimated that, under the maps then in place, Republicans were likely to gain up to 17 seats and Democrats up to six. Those figures were estimates as of late spring and are not final results.

  • Texas: After President Donald Trump pressed for new seats, Texas House Democrats left the state in August 2025 to delay a vote. The map later passed, and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld it in April 2026. Republicans could gain three to five seats, according to NCSL.
  • California: Voters approved Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal in November 2025 to let the Democratic-led legislature temporarily redraw maps in place of the independent commission. Democrats could gain three to five seats.
  • North Carolina: The Republican-controlled legislature passed a new map on party-line votes. The delegation is likely to shift to 11 Republicans and three Democrats.
  • Ohio: A redistricting commission unanimously approved a map in October 2025 that is likely to produce 12 Republican and three Democratic seats, compared with a current 10-5 split.
  • Missouri: The Missouri Supreme Court upheld the 2025 map on May 12. A referendum petition to repeal it is pending, and the map is expected to give Republicans one additional seat.
  • Florida: The Legislature passed Gov. Ron DeSantis’s map in late April. It could net Republicans up to four seats. NCSL reported that DeSantis and the plaintiffs agree the map conflicts with parts of the state constitution, and litigation was continuing.
  • Tennessee: Lawmakers passed a map in a May special session that splits the state’s only majority-Black, majority-Democratic district. Rep. Steve Cohen announced on May 15 that he would not seek reelection.
  • Alabama: After Callais, the state asked the Supreme Court to reinstate its earlier map, and the Court agreed. Gov. Kay Ivey set August primaries for affected districts.
  • Utah: A court-ordered map from 2025 gives Democrats a chance to win one of four districts.

States that declined or were blocked

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said 2026 voting was already underway and announced a special session on maps for 2028 rather than for this election. In Virginia, Democrats had won voter approval in an April 21 special election for a constitutional amendment that could have given them a chance at four additional seats. The Virginia Supreme Court struck it down 4-3, finding the legislature began the amendment process after early voting had started in the previous fall’s general election, the Associated Press reported.

The U.S. Supreme Court on May 15 rejected Virginia’s request to restore the map, with no noted dissent, according to the AP. Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s office confirmed that this year’s elections will use districts drawn in 2021. Spanberger said more than 3 million Virginians who voted in the special election had their votes nullified. State Republican chair Jeff Ryer said the Supreme Court had “confirmed the judgment of the Supreme Court of Virginia.”

Other states weighing changes

NCSL reported that officials in Mississippi, Arizona, New Jersey, New York and Washington had discussed new maps after Callais. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said he was working with Trump and the White House on future maps. In Colorado, NCSL reported that the state’s Voting Rights Act would likely prevent a redraw before the election, while a Democratic-led group collected signatures for ballot measures that would allow map changes for 2028. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster called a special session in May, and Louisiana lawmakers were advancing a bill to eliminate one of two majority-Black districts; the final status of those efforts was not confirmed in the sources reviewed for this article.

Congress and the courts

Congressional Democrats have pushed the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which remains stalled in the Senate, according to the Washington Examiner. Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, a Delaware Democrat, vowed to defend the Voting Rights Act. Supporters of the Court’s ruling and of the new maps have argued that states have authority to draw districts and that earlier mandates required race-based line drawing, a position DeSantis’s general counsel advanced in Florida’s litigation.

What to watch

  • Pending litigation over Florida’s map and the Missouri referendum petition.
  • How the new lines affect competitive House districts on Nov. 3.
  • State legislative sessions on maps intended for 2028 and later.

Sources: Washington Examiner, National Conference of State Legislatures (Stateline), Associated Press via ABC affiliates.