Republican Redistricting Plans Stall in Four Southern States

Republican efforts to redraw congressional maps in Southern states hit obstacles this week after an initial push that followed a Supreme Court ruling allowing changes to racially gerrymandered districts. The Supreme Court issued its decision on April 29.

A cascade of red-state redistricting appeared to lose momentum Wednesday as four Southern states wavered on plans that would have created additional Republican-leaning seats. Tate Reeves signaled he would cancel a special legislative session. The session would have redrawn the state's Supreme Court districts and possibly its congressional districts ahead of the November midterm elections.

In South Carolina, the Republican-led state Senate blocked a resolution Tuesday. The resolution would have cleared the way for lawmakers to consider a new map that would have redrawn a congressional seat held by a Black Democrat. "Republicans are stronger when the Democrat Party is vibrant and viable," a state Senate Majority Leader said in a floor speech arguing against the redistricting.

Lawmakers in two other Southern states voted to redraw their congressional maps to eliminate racially gerrymandered districts. Each legislature created only one additional Republican-leaning seat instead of the two that some in the party had hoped to secure.

Republicans are now poised to forgo carving out four additional seats that would likely favor their candidates in November as the party works to hold its narrow majority in the U.S. House.

Democrats are preparing an aggressive response in blue states. They announced plans to gerrymander additional congressional districts in their favor in at least seven states ahead of the 2028 elections. "It's just getting started," the House Minority Leader said.

He pledged a "decisive and forceful response" to recent Republican actions in the South. The party plans to target additional seats in New York, New Jersey, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Illinois, Maryland and possibly others. Democrats in several of those states are already drafting specific proposals.

The measure would allow the legislature to redraw congressional districts ahead of the 2028 elections.

Background on the Ruling The Supreme Court decision cleared the way for states to redraw maps previously found to contain racial gerrymanders. Republicans had viewed the ruling as an opportunity to gain seats in the South. That momentum slowed this week.

One elections analyst posted on social media that the South was "really dropping the ball" on the redistricting opportunity. Republicans had been on a partisan redistricting roll immediately after the April 29 decision. The four states' actions this week represent a notable shift in that trajectory.

Democrats' prior aggressive partisan gerrymandering in blue states has left them with limited opportunities to flip Republican-leaning districts. Their current plans aim to squeeze out additional seats where possible through the redistricting process or ballot measures.

" — State Senate Majority Leader, May 2026 (The Washington Times) The developments leave both parties navigating a narrow path as they seek advantages ahead of the 2026 midterms and 2028 elections. Republicans will retain their existing map advantages in many states while Democrats prepare their counteroffensive in others.