WaPo:

President Donald Trump’s push to redraw the congressional map has fueled a redistricting arms race, with blue and red states rushing to counter each other.

But it’s an uneven fight.

Republicans appear to hold the advantage in the nationwide scramble, according to strategists and nonpartisan analysts, with more opportunities to shift the lines in their favor ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Democrats have vowed to “fight fire with fire” since the GOP moved to add five red seats in Texas, but they face many barriers.

Republicans are eyeing ways to add a dozen or more red House districts across Texas, Florida, Missouri, Ohio and Indiana, despite some legal hurdles and reservations from local Republicans. Democrats are looking to retaliate with five more blue seats in California, and they are exploring other options, including in Maryland and Illinois. They control fewer states than Republicans, however, and they have already maximized their power in others. In some cases, they would have to work around independent commissions set up to prevent gerrymandering.

“The Republicans are pretty likely to come out ahead — it’s just a question of how much they come out ahead,” said Kyle Kondik, an elections analyst for the nonpartisan site Sabato’s Crystal Ball.

Democrats say they are determined to blunt Trump’s push for more red seats, even if they cannot stop it. As Republicans defend a 219-212 House majority with four vacancies, even small shifts in the map could tip control of Congress in 2026…

Announcement via email:

Common Cause today reaffirmed its commitment to fair, people-powered democracy, making clear that independent redistricting commissions remain the gold standard for ending partisan gerrymandering.

However, as political leaders in states like Texas are imposing mid-decade partisan maps to distort the will of the people ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, the organization announced it will closely evaluate, but not automatically condemn, countermeasures to these actions….

Common Cause’s position follows decades of advocacy against partisan gerrymandering, including taking Common Cause v. Rucho to the Supreme Court, drafting provisions in the Freedom to Vote Act to ban partisan gerrymandering, and championing independent redistricting commissions nationwide.

Common Cause’s Six Fairness Criteria for Mid-Decade Redistricting 

1. Proportionality: Any mid-decade redistricting should be a targeted response proportional to the threat posed by mid-decade gerrymanders in other states.
   
2. Public participation: Any redistricting must include meaningful public participation, whether through ballot initiatives or open public processes.
   
3. Racial equity: Redistricting must not further racial discrimination or dilute the political voice of Black, Latino, Indigenous, Asian American, and Pacific Islander, or other communities of color.
   
4. Federal reform: Leaders pursuing mid-decade redistricting must publicly endorse the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, including provisions banning mid-decade redistricting and partisan gerrymandering.
   
5. Endorsement of independent redistricting: Leaders pursuing mid-decade redistricting must publicly endorse citizen-led independent redistricting commissions as the long-term solution.
   
6. Time-limited: Any new redistricting maps must expire following the 2030 Census, which counts all people in our country, and be replaced through the regular decennial redistricting process.