When Marsha Mitchell’s racial solidarity organization, Community Coalition, participated in Day of the Dead celebrations this month, she honored her grandparents. They were born in the Jim Crow South, in Arkansas, and didn’t enjoy the same rights that she grew up with, like the right to vote.
Mitchell, who lives in South Los Angeles, wanted to remember her grandparents at a moment when Black voting power is once again being challenged.
Californians on Nov. 4 approved Proposition 50, a measure to allow the state to redraw its congressional map and flip up to five House seats for Democrats. This move is a counterpunch to Texas Republicans’ decision in August to engage in mid-decade redistricting that might net them five additional seats.
This maneuvering sparked a nationwide redistricting arms race — one that could have major ramifications for Black Americans’ ability to elect representatives who will advocate for them when it comes to health care, the environment, infrastructure, and a host of other issues.
“We don’t want voices silenced in other places,” Mitchell told Capital B. “It’s about balance, and it’s about defending democracy. Black folks are the ones who have made the promise of democracy real for America.”
More than 80% of Black registered voters identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, according to the Pew Research Center, while around 10% of Black adults identify with or lean toward the Republican Party. This means that, in most states, race and political party are closely correlated, and drawing maps that dismantle Democratic seats could weaken Black Americans’ power to elect candidates of their choice.
“A lot of these things that have racial implications are being shielded by this notion of ‘no, it’s partisan gerrymandering,’ but in practice, they’re often the same thing,” Jovita Lee, the program director for the North Carolina Black Alliance, told Capital B. “In North Carolina, we have 14 congressional districts. Why the focus on Congressional District 1 — the district that includes the state’s Black Belt region?”
Lee was referring to North Carolina Republicans’ passage in October of a map that could give them another seat by diluting a district that includes all the state’s majority-Black counties and has been represented by Black lawmakers since the 1990s.
While most attention has been directed at the fight over congressional districts, there have also been significant changes on the state level.
Mississippi Democrats in November seemed to break the Republican supermajority in the state Senate after winning special elections. Johnny DuPree and Theresa Gillespie Isom, who are both Black Democrats, triumphed in two formerly Republican-controlled districts that federal judges in April had ordered to be redrawn to more accurately reflect the state’s Black population.
Just weeks later, on Nov. 18, a federal judge approved a state Senate map that could expand Black representation in the Alabama capital of Montgomery.
The all-out war over maps will likely continue ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, as lawmakers in red and blue states seek to aggressively redraw congressional districts in the hopes of helping their respective party control the House.
Read on to learn more about these redistricting efforts.
California
Who is leading the effort? Democrats
What is the status of the effort? Hours after voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 50, Republicans filed a lawsuit to block the redistricting measure. They’re arguing that it violates the U.S. Constitution — specifically the 14th and 15th Amendments, ratified during Reconstruction to make Black Americans full citizens — by drawing congressional district lines based on race.
How many seats are at stake? As many as five Democratic seats could be added. An analysis by the Public Policy Institute of California finds that the proposed plan would include two Black, six Asian American, and eight Latino “influence” districts, meaning that a district has a share of a certain racial or ethnic group that’s high enough to help decide an election outcome, even if that group doesn’t make up a majority of the district. (The center uses 30% as its influence threshold.) California has 52 House seats.
What could this mean for Black voters? Some political leaders have described the proposed changes as key to protecting Black access to things such as health care.
If Republicans win in the 2026 midterms because of redrawn maps, “we will lose access to medical care, our hospitals in our communities will close, labor and delivery units will become unreachable, and the health disparities that impact the Black community will worsen,” state Sen. Akilah Weber-Pierson, a Democrat and the chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus, told The Sacramento Observer.
Indiana
Who is leading the effort? Republicans
What is the status of the effort? Responding to pressure from President Donald Trump, Republican Gov. Mike Braun called a special legislative session that began on Nov. 3 to consider redrawing the state’s congressional districts. It’s unclear how long the session will last. Indiana House Republicans released their proposed map on Dec. 1.
The passage of the map remains uncertain, and an Indiana state senator has pledged to vote against the map because of Trump’s recent use of an ableist slur against Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat. The lawmaker, Michael Bohacek, has a child with Down syndrome.
How many seats are at stake? Two Democratic seats could be flipped. One of those seats is currently held by U.S. Rep. André Carson, the state’s only Black representative. His district is about 33% Black. Indiana has nine House seats.
What could this mean for Black voters? The Indiana Black Legislative Caucus held a rally with faith leaders the same day that the special session started. They said that the new map isn’t what the people want — it’s what the Trump administration wants — and it jeopardizes residents’ ability to choose representatives to champion them.
“The idea for doing this has come from people who are eliminating means for health care for all of our people around the state of Indiana,” Willis Bright, the chair of the African American Coalition of Indianapolis, told protesters. “It’s from people who are eliminating means for quality and equitable education for children.”
Maryland
Who is leading the effort? Democrats, though the party is split on the issue
What is the status of the effort? Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, announced on Nov. 4 a five-person commission that will convene public hearings, collect feedback from residents, and make recommendations to Moore and the Maryland General Assembly within the next couple of months on how to “improve” the state’s current congressional map, the governor said in a statement.
How many seats are at stake? Democrats could flip the state’s one Republican seat, held by U.S. Rep. Andrew Harris, which would allow them to control all eight seats. Harris’ district is 15% Black. State Sen. Bill Ferguson, a Democrat, has voiced skepticism about redrawing the map, saying in a statement that he fears that the effort might “backfire in our courts” and give Trump “one or two” more seats.
What could this mean for Black voters? While Black Marylanders already have robust representation, Moore has defended the panel as a way to push back against the broader “attack on our democracy” that many say is represented by the dismantling of Black districts elsewhere. In September, Moore said that Trump is “attempting to gerrymander Black leaders out of office, which, by the way, amounts to nothing more than political redlining.”
Missouri
Who is leading the effort? Republicans
What is the status of the effort? Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican, signed a redrawn map into law in September. This map is being challenged in court, and Missouri voters are attempting to collect enough signatures to force a veto referendum election that would allow them to block the map.
How many seats are at stake? The map would give Republicans another seat, specifically by flipping Congressional District 5. U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Democrat, has held the seat since 2005. His district is about 22% Black. Missouri has eight House seats.
What could this mean for Black voters? Demetria McCain, the director of policy for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, has denounced the map as racially discriminatory for targeting Cleaver’s district, which has long provided Black electoral opportunities.
“This is a blatant and direct attack on the nearly 700,000 Black residents in Missouri’s rights,” McCain said in a statement, characterizing the map as an attempt to secure “power at the expense of Black voters and other voters of color.”
North Carolina
Who is leading the effort? Republicans
What is the status of the effort? The state’s Republican-controlled General Assembly approved a new map in October. The state Constitution doesn’t allow Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, to veto the map. Stein at a recent press conference criticized Republicans for “abusing their power to take away the people’s power, the voters’ power.” A panel of three federal judges in North Carolina said on Nov. 26 that the state can use the Republican-friendly map.
How many seats are at stake? Republicans would gain another seat in Congressional District 1. U.S. Rep. Donald Davis, a Democrat, has held the seat since 2023. The district is about 39% Black. North Carolina has 14 House seats.
What could this mean for Black voters? Davis’ district has long been a bastion of Black political representation in the state. “[The new map] ignores the historical value of the district,” Lee, at the North Carolina Black Alliance, told Capital B. “These are real folks dealing with real issues, and they need real representation.”
She added that some of the counties affected by the new map are ones that have for years grappled with issues such as threats to their property because of rising sea levels.
Ohio
Who is leading the effort? Republicans
What is the status of the effort? Even before Trump called on red states to engage in mid-decade redistricting, Ohio was constitutionally required to take up a new bipartisan congressional map. The Ohio Redistricting Commission — which consists mostly of Republican elected officials — adopted a new map in October.
How many seats are at stake? The new map would make two Democratic-controlled districts slightly more Republican: U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman’s 1st Congressional District, which is about 19% Black, and Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s 9th Congressional District, which is about 12% Black. Ohio has 15 House seats.
What could this mean for Black voters? Ohio has been involved in a battle over its congressional maps for years, with Black residents often caught in the crosshairs. “Historically, our communities have been cracked and packed into districts that don’t allow us to meaningfully engage in political processes, or have healthy competition between candidates for representation in the Statehouse,” Jeniece Brock, the policy and advocacy director for the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, told the Ohio Capital Journal in 2024.
Eric Holder, the chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, said in an October statement that while the new map isn’t ideal, it isn’t a worst-case scenario, because it allows “sitting Democrats to continue to compete in all their existing congressional districts.”
Texas
Who is leading the effort? Republicans
What is the status of the effort? Gov. Greg Abbott signed a new map into law in August. This map triggered the nationwide redistricting arms race and compelled Texas Democrats to leave the state in an effort to prevent it from being passed. Federal judges in November temporarily blocked the map. Abbott then appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, which on Dec. 4 said that Texas can use the map in next year’s elections.
How many seats are at stake? Republicans could gain five additional seats. They hope to do this by redrawing the boundaries of districts held by veteran Black lawmakers such as U.S. Rep. Al Green, whose 9th Congressional District includes a portion of the Greater Houston area. Texas has 38 House seats.
What could this mean for Black voters? Democrats have lambasted the new map, which dilutes Green’s district. The Black voting-age population of the district could drop from 39% to 11% under the new map, meaning that it would be much more difficult for Black voters to influence election outcomes there.
“The Texas congressional map is an obvious racial gerrymander,” Valencia Richardson, legal counsel for the Campaign Legal Center’s voting rights division, previously told Capital B, adding that the mid-decade redistricting battle is leaving Black voters out in the cold.
Utah
Who is leading the effort? Republicans
What is the status of the effort? Republicans passed a map in October after a court struck down a previous one as a partisan gerrymander; Gov. Spencer Cox signed it into law. Republicans also approved legislation to limit courts’ ability to rein in gerrymanders. Voters have filed a lawsuit challenging the law, saying that it disproportionately burdens Democrats.
How many seats are at stake? Republicans still have an advantage in all four congressional districts. But one district is more competitive, giving Democrats a chance of winning.
What could this mean for Black voters? The larger potential effects of the map aren’t clear, given that just about 2% of the state’s population is Black. But there are groups such as the Utah Black Roundtable that are working to minimize racial and ethnic disparities in the state.
Virginia
Who is leading the effort? Democrats
What is the status of the effort? The Democratic-led General Assembly in October advanced a constitutional amendment to allow the state’s congressional map to be redrawn. The amendment must be passed again next year. If it clears that hurdle, lawmakers must then call a special referendum, and if voters approve the ballot measure, then the map can be redrawn.
How many seats are at stake? Democrats could gain as many as three additional seats. Currently, they control six of the 11 House seats.
What could this mean for Black voters? Like their neighbors in Maryland, Black Virginians are already well-represented in the House. But more seats could mean more voices to push back against the Trump administration’s actions, including the dismantling of the federal workforce.
Virginia has been hit especially hard by the cutting of federal jobs. Black Americans account for about 26% of the federal workforce in the state, according to the Economic Policy Institute, and make up around 18% of the total state population.
This story has been updated.