Republicans in several pivotal states are making every effort to retain control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the forthcoming midterm elections. Lawmakers in Ohio and Texas are strategizing to redraw congressional district lines to eliminate multiple Democratic representatives and reestablish a GOP advantage.
For context, on June 20, 2025, media reports confirmed that legislators in Ohio and Texas are actively seeking methods to redraw congressional districts within their states. This could potentially enable the GOP to secure a significant advantage over the Democrats in the 2026 midterm elections, thereby hindering the Democrats from gaining control of the House with a net increase of three seats.
In an interview with CNN, Adam Kincaid, the president and executive director of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, emphasized that his organization prioritizes the objective to “maintain the House,” stating, “Republicans should be pursuing as many seats as possible.” Kincaid further remarked, “There were a few seats that were previously politically unattainable that may now be feasible.”
It is noteworthy that House Republicans are not the sole lawmakers advocating for the redrawing of district lines in Texas. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has reportedly indicated that redistricting could be advantageous for the Democrats, asserting to the media that the state is “already gerrymandered” in favor of Republicans.
Additionally, as reported by the Washington Examiner, Rep. Jeffries mentioned that he had conversed with “numerous Democrats” in Texas who have concluded that, given the current gerrymandered map, they could create four to six swing seat opportunities that are presently unavailable for Democrats. Conversely, a Texas GOP staff member informed the Washington Examiner that Republicans in Texas “are generally satisfied with the current district lines.”
Furthermore, the unnamed GOP staff member who communicated with the examiner referred to the potential for redrawing the lines as “a head-scratcher,” and remarked, “The calculus of interfering with them is perplexing.” Conversely, Rep. Jeffries asserted that redistricting could advantage the Democrats by yielding “sufficient seats in Texas alone to reclaim the majority.”
To further advocate for the notion that redistricting would be advantageous for the Democrats, the House minority leader cited a mid-decade redistricting that occurred in North Carolina in 2023, where the Democratic representative claimed that the GOP “usurped three seats.” He stated, “Rather than replicating what they executed in North Carolina, where they effectively snatched victory from the jaws of electoral defeat that they were approaching,” redistricting would ultimately backfire on the GOP.
In contrast to Rep. Jeffries, Marina Jenkens, the executive director of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, reportedly expressed opposition to the initiative for redistricting, labeling it as “further manipulation of outrageous gerrymanders in red states such as Texas and Ohio” pursued by Republicans, asserting that the GOP was undertaking such actions because it is “fearful of voters.”