Months after Republicans took an aggressive stance in reconfiguring the political map for the 2026 midterms by passing new redistricting plans in Texas and other red states, they are now in danger of losing ground to Democrats next year. Recently, federal courts have blocked GOP-drawn maps in Texas and Utah, while lawmakers in GOP-controlled Kansas and Indiana have declined to draw new maps. At the same time, blue states like California, Virginia, and Illinois are moving to further carve up their maps in favor of Democrats.
All of this has prompted new warnings for the GOP to fight back or risk getting run over by the Dems next year. President Donald Trump, who initially pushed Texas and other red states to redraw maps, is calling out states like Indiana for dragging their feet. Trump is even threatening to pull support for any lawmakers who do not support the redistricting effort. Political writer Mollie Hemingway tells Fox News the GOP is still playing defense after ceding this fight to Democrats for years. "You have Democrat-controlled legislatures in Democrat-majority states that have really gone almost to the limits of what they can do," she says. "Republicans just haven't done it anywhere near what they could, even in states that they control or have supermajorities in."
Texas leaders are vowing to fight for their maps, taking the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. But it will take an equal fight from other red states to match or overcome Democrat efforts. "You have states that have 40, 45 percent Republicans, with no (GOP) representation in Congress," Hemingway tells Fox. "Republicans are starting this game a little more now, but they are well behind---decades behind---where Democrats have been. And you can also see the tenacity with which people like (California Gov.) Gavin Newsom are willing to push it even further."
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