In the yearlong stretch leading up to the midterm elections, House Republicans executed a plan they hoped would help them hang on to their slim majority: redraw the maps in red states to boot the few sitting Democrats who were there.
The effort gained momentum after President Donald Trump instructed Texas to draw a map giving Republicans an extra five seats in the House, prompting California Gov. Gavin Newsom to retaliate and cancel out those wins. What resulted was a nationwide effort to reconfigure some states’ congressional boundaries to boost Republicans’ chances of keeping the House.
That plan failed.
Nine states had new maps for the 2026 midterm cycle, putting 21 seats in play, according to a Deseret News analysis. Of those, 15 were drawn with a Republican advantage. California redrew five in Democrats’ favor.
(Utah’s maps were also redrawn, giving Democrats one seat to their advantage, but that map was a result of a yearslong legal battle unrelated to the larger redistricting fight.)
But as results come to a close, Republicans are only projected to win two of the seats they wanted. Democrats are projected to pick up the remaining 18 seats, with the final district headed toward a runoff.
Texas
When Republicans redrew the Texas map, their goal was to pick up five seats held by Democrats.
That included the redrawn districts of Texas’ 9th District, the 28th District, the 32nd District, the 34th District and the 35th District. Democrats defended all but one as Republicans managed to pluck off the 32nd District, which was drawn with an R+8 advantage and ranked as a “solid Republican” seat.
But Democrats were able to unseat Rep. Monica De La Cruz in the 15th District, which Trump won by 18 points in 2024.
California
Democrats retaliated to Republicans’ initial efforts to redraw the Texas map by implementing their own boundaries to try to pick up the same number of seats.
As of Wednesday, Democrats either flipped or are projected to flip all five — making it a successful endeavor. And with Republicans’ failure to flip all the Texas seats, the California gambit gave Democrats a major boost in their effort to flip the House.
The map specifically targeted the 1st District, the 6th District, the 22nd District, the 41st District and the 48th District. All five of those were flipped.
The redistricting also made Rep. Ami Bera’s district, which was originally leaning slightly Republican, a bluer seat. Bera won on Tuesday.
North Carolina
Republicans redrew two congressional districts in North Carolina with the intention to unseat Rep. Don Davis in the 1st District. Although the race has not yet been called, the Democratic incumbent is leading in the polls as of Wednesday evening.
The other redrawn district belonging to Rep. Greg Murphy is uncomfortably close for the Republican incumbent. The race has yet to be called as Murphy leads by just 0.1 percentage point.
Meanwhile, Democrats are overperforming elsewhere. They flipped North Carolina’s open seat in District 11, and Democrats are leading Republican incumbents in five other red districts. If those results hold, Democrats could end up flipping at least six GOP-held districts.
Ohio
Republicans redrew Ohio’s seat targeting two Democratic incumbents: Rep. Greg Landsman in the 1st District and Marcy Kaptur in the 9th District.
Both Democrats won reelection.
Meanwhile, Democrats flipped two Republican-held seats in Ohio’s 7th and 15th districts. Democratic candidate Kristina Knickerbocker is currently leading Rep. Mike Turner in Ohio’s 10th District, although the race has not yet been called.
If that margin holds, Democrats would end up flipping three seats in Ohio and defending the two that Republicans targeted.
Florida
Republicans sought to oust at least four Democrats in the Sunshine State, but those efforts fell flat before election night was over.
In their redrawn map, Republicans sought to flip the 9th District, the 14th District, the 22nd District and the 25th District. All were considered highly competitive heading into election night.
Democratic incumbents Kathy Castor and Jared Moskowitz both won reelection in their newly redrawn 14th and 25th districts, and Pia Dandiya defended the 22nd District that was left open after the redistricting process.
Rep. Darren Soto’s race in the 9th District has not yet been called, although the Democratic incumbent has a narrow lead as of Wednesday evening.
Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana
Republicans sought to pick up one seat each in Tennessee, Alabama and Louisiana through redistricting.
So far, Republicans are projected to pick up their intended target in Tennessee’s 9th District. However, Democratic candidate Victoria Broderick is leading Rep. Scott DesJarlais in Tennessee’s 4th District, which would cancel out the GOP gain.
In Alabama, Republicans failed to unseat Rep. Shomari Figures in the 2nd District. No seats in that state were flipped for either party.
The fight for Louisiana’s 6th District will drag on as the race was deemed too close to call and will result in a runoff election. That will be held on Dec. 12.
Utah
Democrats managed to pick up one seat in Utah after the state adopted a new map this year, cementing a heavy blue seat in Salt Lake County.
Former Rep. Ben McAdams won by a large margin, defeating his Republican opponent by 47 points. The remaining three red seats in Utah are projected to remain in Republican control.
