‘War’ over US election maps heats up as both Republicans and Democrats redraw lines ahead of 2026 polls

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Many seats remain empty during the House meeting's call to order at the state Capitol on August 05, 2025 in Austin, Texas. — AFP pic

WASHINGTON, Aug 6 — Donald Trump is pulling hard on the levers of power to strengthen Republicans through redistricting in Texas and other states — the latest offensive in escalating moves by both sides to shape the battlefield of US democracy for the midterm elections.

The president’s efforts have lit a fuse in multiple states, triggering a high-stakes tussle over election law that could upend what is expected to be a fierce fight for control of the House of Representatives in 2026.

Partisan redistricting — or gerrymandering — operates under a principle that has become known as “packing and cracking.”

Officials redrawing the districts in any given state “pack” opposition voters together so that they win big in a tiny number of districts. Then they “crack” the rest more thinly across the remaining districts to ensure losses there.

It isn’t inherently illegal at the federal level unless electoral districts are redrawn along racial lines and both parties have been guilty of excessive manipulation to maximise their vote.

“I’d be happy to outlaw gerrymandering,” Democratic strategist Mike Nellis, a former top aide to 2024 presidential candidate Kamala Harris, posted on X.

“I think it’s ridiculous for politicians to draw their own maps, but I’m not for unilateral disarmament when Republicans are trying to rig the midterms.”

Redistricting typically happens once a decade after the census, but lawmakers have increasingly been inclined to break with that tradition.

While Trump coasted to victory in 2024, his success wasn’t contagious, and his party was left clinging to the House by a threadbare 219-212 margin.

Historically, the party in the White House loses ground in midterms, and Trump’s team knows the clock is ticking.

To tighten his grip, the president has leaned on Texas to redraw its congressional map to create five new Republican-friendly seats.

But Trump and his party are not stopping with the Lone Star State, according to US media.

Republicans in Missouri and Ohio are planning their own redistricting to boost their representation in Washington, while Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has made noises about addressing the “raw deal” conservatives got in the last Sunshine State redistricting round.

Democratic counteroffensives

Meanwhile, Democratic governors are preparing their own counteroffensives.

In California, Gavin Newsom has floated a potential special election to redraw the map — a dramatic reversal in a state where redistricting power has belonged to an independent commission since the 2010s.

In Illinois, JB Pritzker recently hosted a delegation of Texas Democrats to talk strategy.

And in New York, Kathy Hochul hinted at a redistricting push of her own, telling a Buffalo crowd, “If other states are violating the rules, I’m going to look at it closely.”

Gerrymandering is hardly a new phenomenon in US elections, but the latest escalation has sparked fears of what Hochul cast as a nationwide partisan “war.”

Opponents say gerrymandering entrenches politicians, pushes candidates toward ideological extremes and erodes public trust in the democratic process.

It is also a risky business, and even the best-laid maps can collapse under the shifting ground of demographic changes and political overreach that tends to spark a legal backlash.

The term “gerrymandering” dates back to 1812, when Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry approved a salamander-shaped district that sparked the term.

As the salamander digs in for 21st century elections, the consequences are more far-reaching.

According to the Cook Political Report, just one in 16 House seats were competitive in 2024 — 12 held by Democrats and 15 held by Republicans, out of a total of 435.

Democrats believe Trump’s latest push may have crossed a legal line by coordinating with local Texas officials, citing the president’s July 15 comment that with “just a simple redrawing, we pick up five seats.”

They also point to reports that senior Trump aides met with Texas Republicans to finalise plans.

But Daron Shaw, a politics professor at the University of Texas, said it was “curious” to blame Trump for the problem, given that deeply Democratic California is the country’s most “egregious gerrymander.”

Liberal Illinois, Maryland and Massachusetts were also at fault, he told AFP.

“It’s especially kind of rich coming from people in California and Illinois that have gerrymander significantly more egregious than exists in Texas,” he added. — AFP