- United States
- N.J.
- Letter
An Open Letter
To: Sen. Kim, Sen. Booker, Rep. Smith
From: A verified voter in Middletown, NJ
March 4
States Where Redistricting Measures Passed Redistricting normally only occurs once every 10 years following the census. But this Trump-led round of mid-decade map changes was kicked off in Texas, where Donald Trump pushed Republicans for months to redraw their congressional districts in an attempt to lock-in more safe red seats ahead of the 2026 midterms. Despite Democratic opposition, Texas legislators ultimately passed a new congressional map that aims to secure five more seats for Republicans. And while the new map faced court challenges, the Supreme Court ultimately declined to strike it down. California responded with a ballot measure that allowed voters to decide whether to move forward with new maps in their own state, in an effort to counterbalance Republican gerrymandering in Texas. Thanks in part to Swing Left volunteers who helped turn out voters in support of the ballot measure, it passed. The new maps in California are designed to secure five more seats for Democrats—essentially canceling out the new maps in Texas. Republicans in Ohio, North Carolina, and Missouri have also passed new maps that aim to add one Republican seat in each state. In Missouri, voters are fighting back with a ballot initiative of their own to put the redistricting plan to a statewide vote. If no additional redistricting measures are passed from this point on, Republicans would head into the midterms with a net gain of three more Republican seats compared to the last election. States Where Redistricting Measures Have Failed Despite the Trump administration’s best efforts, not every push to redraw maps in Republicans’ favor has succeeded. In Indiana, Donald Trump put extreme pressure on Republican legislators to gerrymander their maps, going as far as to threaten primary challenges against anyone who refused to go along with the plan. Due in large part to public scrutiny, the Republican controlled state senate declined to move forward, meaning Democrats will be able to hold the two seats they currently have in Indiana. In Kansas, Republican-led redistricting efforts also failed when it became clear that they would be unable to override a veto by Democratic Governor Laura Kelly. This gives the state’s lone Democratic Representative, Sharice Davids, the chance to hold her seat. And in New York, the State Supreme Court recently overturned a lower court decision that would have mandated a new map with one more seat that’s favorable to Democrats. States Where Redistricting Efforts Are In Progress On the Democratic side, early voting starts in just a few days in Virginia for a redistricting ballot referendum on April 21st. This special election will decide whether the state moves forward with new maps that could secure four more seats for Democrats. In Maryland, a Democratic-led redistricting effort to try and gain one additional seat for Democrats is still in progress, but the State Senate president has indicated that there isn’t enough support to move forward with a vote. In Colorado, a Democratic group is pursuing a ballot initiative to ask Colorado voters to approve a new, temporary congressional map this November that could give Democrats up to three more congressional seats. These maps would be in place for the 2028 and 2030 elections. On the Republican side, in Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis has called a special legislative session for this April focused specifically on redistricting. If approved, new maps could secure up to five more seats for Republicans in an already gerrymandered state—but it’s unclear whether the effort will have enough support to pass in the legislature. Additionally, recent court rulings in Utah could force the state to adopt a new map that adds one more seat that’s favorable to Democrats. However, the ruling is being contested, and the outcome is still uncertain. A Big Wildcard In Louisiana v. Callais Another thing to watch out for is the Supreme Court’s upcoming decision in Louisiana v. Callais, in which the Court could gut or significantly dilute Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which protects against racial discrimination in elections. A decision in their favor could trigger Republican-led states across the south to conduct yet another round of redistricting, eliminating majority-minority districts, manufacturing up to 19 more Republican-leaning seats, and reducing the number of Black representatives in Congress drastically. The Court could rule on this case any time between now and June, and we’ll keep you updated as developments happen. How You Can Help All of this uncertainty around the map reinforces why our ruthlessly pragmatic approach to where we put our focus is so important. Swing Left doesn’t try to compete in every race. We identify the most competitive districts and direct our energy where it can make a difference in the races that will decide the House majority. Our political team is closely monitoring every redistricting development. If new competitive districts emerge or current target districts become less viable, our target list will shift. We’ll continue to adjust quickly as needed, so that our collective time and dollars go exactly where they’ll have the greatest impact in changing the national balance of power.
Write to Andy Kim or any of your elected officials
Or text write to 50409
Resistbot is a chatbot that delivers your texts to your elected officials by email, fax, or postal mail. Tap above to give it a try or learn more here!