Republican redistricting race hits speed bump in the South
by Susan Ferrechio · The Washington TimesRepublicans were on a partisan redistricting roll following the Supreme Court decision allowing them to redraw racially gerrymandered congressional districts.
That was until Wednesday, when four southern states wavered on plans to radically redraw congressional maps in the GOP’s favor.
Democrats, meanwhile, are plotting “a decisive and forceful” gerrymander push in seven blue states ahead of 2028 to help them gain new seats.
A cascade of red-state redistricting that followed the Supreme Court’s April 29 decision appeared to be losing steam.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves on Wednesday signaled he will cancel a special legislative session that would have redrawn the state’s Supreme Court districts and possibly its racially gerrymandered congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
In South Carolina, the state GOP-led Senate on Tuesday blocked a resolution clearing the way for lawmakers to consider a new map that would have redrawn a Congressional seat now held by Rep. James Clyburn, a Democrat who is Black.
“Republicans are stronger when the Democrat Party is vibrant and viable,” Republican Majority Leader Shane Massey said in a floor speech arguing against redistricting Mr. Clyburn’s district out of existence.
Lawmakers in both Louisiana and Alabama voted to redraw their congressional map to eliminate racially gerrymandered districts, but each Republican-led legislature created only one additional GOP-leaning seat instead of two seats in each state, as some in the party had hoped for.
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In all, Republicans are poised to bypass carving out four additional seats that would likely favor GOP congressional candidates in November as the party battles to cling to its razor-thin majority in the U.S. House.
“The South [is] really dropping the ball,” elections analyst Ryan Girdusky posted on social media.
Republicans slowed their redistricting scramble as Democrats plotted to strike back in 2027.
They announced aggressive plans to gerrymander additional congressional districts in their favor in at least seven states.
“The effort is not over. It’s just getting started,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat.
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He pledged “a decisive and forceful response” to the recent GOP gerrymandering in the South, assuring reporters who questioned him about the Democrats’ extensive redistricting plans, “I’m telling you now — we will.”
The party’s aggressive partisan gerrymandering in prior decades has left Democrats with few avenues to carve away GOP-leaning districts, but they plan to squeeze out additional seats in New York, New Jersey, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Illinois, Maryland and perhaps others, Mr. Jeffries said.
Democrats in several blue states are already making plans to target GOP seats.
New Jersey Senate President Nick Scutari said he’s weighing an amendment on the 2026 ballot that would allow the legislature to carve out new congressional districts ahead of 2028. The 9-3 map heavily favors Democrats, but redistricting could push out one or more of the state’s 3 GOP House lawmakers.
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“We are having active discussions and I’m in favor of that,” Mr. Scutari told attendees at a congressional debate Tuesday, InsideNJ reported.
Republicans are on track to win the redistricting battle in 2026 thanks to aggressive gerrymandering in Texas, Florida and several other states.
California countered by approving five new Democrat-leaning congressional districts in a November 2025 special election. Utah also added a seat for Democrats.
Republicans leapfrogged further ahead in the redistricting battle after the Virginia Supreme Court tossed out a voter-approved map that would have created four new Democrat-leaning districts.
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Republicans want to gerrymander as many congressional districts as possible as they face daunting poll numbers that show the electorate is increasingly dissatisfied with Mr. Trump’s handling of the economy and the war in Iran.
The South Carolina Senate’s vote on Tuesday blocking a redistricting session was a setback for the GOP and drew angry responses from party leaders.
“The SC Senate’s RINOs blocked the will of We The People and President Trump!” Rep. Ralph Norman, a Republican House lawmaker who is running for South Carolina governor, said on social media. “Let me be clear: NONE of them should be in public office after the next election and as governor, I’ll make sure of it!!”
On Wednesday, the state’s current Gov. Henry McMaster, facing significant pressure from party leaders, signaled he planned to call a special session of the state legislature to consider the new congressional map. The move would reopen a pathway for the GOP to pick up an additional seat in the Palmetto State.
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In Mississippi, Mr. Reeves appeared to backtrack on closing the door to redistricting in his state ahead of the 2026 election after fielding criticism over his decision to cancel the special session to redraw the state’s Supreme Court map, which would have provided an opportunity to consider the congressional lines and eliminate the sole district held by a Democrat.
“Just to clarify, I said I expect lawmakers to redraw congressional lines BETWEEN NOW and 2027 elections!” he said on social media.
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Susan Ferrechio
sferrechio@washingtontimes.com
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