https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/08/16/us/politics/texas-california-redistricting-republicans-democrats.html

The aggressive push by President Trump and Republicans in Texas to flip as many as five congressional seats by drawing new maps ahead of the midterm elections threatens to set off a nationwide redistricting arms race. But it is Republicans who have a clear advantage over Democrats in the total number of states that could redraw their maps.

The process of drawing new legislative maps — which is typically done at the beginning of every decade, after the census — varies from state to state. And not every state has the right conditions to participate in the emerging redistricting battle.

Redrawing a map in the middle of the decade without a court order is likely a highly partisan affair, requiring one party to control both the governor’s mansion and the statehouse. The state must have seats that could be drawn into a partisan advantage without running afoul of Voting Rights Act protections for communities of color. And it must also be one where the legislature holds the power to draw the maps.

Here’s how the list of states that could consider redistricting gets narrowed down.