Texas Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, oversees a debate over a redrawn U.S. congressional map in Texas during a special session, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

President Donald Trump is pressuring states where Republicans hold a trifecta to redistrict — sometimes illegally — before the 2026 elections. The goal is to give the GOP the advantage in more districts in a year where Republicans could face an uphill challenge keeping their majority in the U.S. House, which currently stands at 219-212 with four vacancies.

The incumbent party typically underperforms in midterm elections, a reality which could be exacerbated by Trump’s controversial agenda. This agenda includes stripping health care from millions of people, deporting thousands of non-criminals and denying child care to low-income areas.

Texas

Texas Republicans convened a special session on Wednesday after Democratic lawmakers returned from their 15-day quorum break. The Democratic lawmakers fled to Democratic-controlled states to deny the Texas GOP enough members to hold quorum and raise awareness and buy time for blue states to develop their own redistricting plans.

Texas Republicans are set to push through congressional maps that will give them even more of an advantage in a state were they hold 25 of the 38 seats. The Texas House passed the maps onto the state Senate late Wednesday. According to the Texas Tribune, the most recent map projects the GOP to gain five seats, bringing their congressional delegation in Texas to 30 seats.

After the Texas Democrats returned on Monday, House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R) only allowed them to leave the House chamber if they signed a permission slip and were escorted by a public safety officer. State Rep. Nicole Collier (D-Fort Worth) refused to sign a slip and therefore slept in the capitol Tuesday night, calling the incident “illegal restraint by the government.”

The Democrats agreed to return only after California formulated a redistricting plan of its own to offset the GOP power grab. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced a special election for November, which will ask voters to grant the Democrats permission to redraw the state’s congressional maps and temporarily set aside the state’s independent commission. California’s new maps could see the Democrats gain an additional five seats in Congress, thereby offsetting the projected Republican gains in Texas.

Missouri

As of Tuesday, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) has refused to confirm whether he will call a special session to redistrict his state early.

“Our goal if we move forward — and there’s no decision to move forward — is to make sure Missouri’s values are reflected in Washington, D.C.,” Kehoe told reporters Tuesday. “I’ve said many times now that the current House speaker does a very good job at matching those values of Missouri.”

However, Missouri House Majority Leader Alex Riley (R-Springfield) told the media that he believes it is “pretty likely” Kehoe will call a special session. Republicans currently control six of Missouri’s eight congressional seats, with the two Democratic districts located in St. Louis and Kansas City. A proposed map would likely change that to 7-1 in favor of Republicans, as they would try to oust Democratic Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver.

Indiana

Like Missouri, Democrats only control two congressional districts in the Hoosier state, with the GOP holding the other seven. But the White House is also pressuring the state to redistrict early and pick up another seat.

Even though the Republicans hold the governor’s mansion and supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature, many of them have come out against Trump’s plan.

“I have tremendous respect for President Trump and love what he’s doing,” said state Sen. Jim Lucas (R-Seymour). “But for Hoosiers, Indiana Republicans, to abandon their principles and basically take away the rules, that sets such a dangerous precedent moving forward and for our children. What kind of political structure are we leaving for our children in the future if we all of a sudden, just because we can, decide to redistrict midcycle?”

Reps. Becky Cash (R-Zionsville), Danny Lopez (R-Carmel), Craig Haggard (R-Mooresville), Ed Clere (R-New Albany) and state Sen. Spencer Deery (R-West Lafayette) have also publicly come out against a redistricting special session.

Gov. Mike Braun (R) has tentatively supported the effort, but he has yet to call a special session and has expressed interest in seeing what happens in Texas first. Meanwhile, every Republican in Indiana’s congressional delegation has endorsed Trump’s plan.

Ohio

While other states are being pressured by Trump to redistrict early, Ohio’s constitution requires new maps to be drawn every four years if the current maps weren’t approved in a bipartisan manner (which happened in 2022.) The complicated process kicks off on Sept. 30, the deadline for the state legislature to approve new congressional maps with a 60% supermajority in both chambers and more than 50% support from both parties.

If the legislature fails, Ohio’s redistricting commission takes over. This commission is comprised of Gov. Mike DeWine (R), Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R), State Auditor Keith Faber (R) and two members from each party. If the commission fails, the process goes back to the legislature. If there still isn’t a compromise, the final maps are only valid for four years.

Republicans hold the power at every stage, as they have since this new process was adopted via a constitutional amendment in 2018. With supermajorities in both chambers, and control of all public offices in the state, the Republicans are in a position to adopt maps that direct more political power to them. The GOP currently holds 10 congressional seats in Ohio; Democrats hold five.