Republican Redistricting Added 4-7 House Seats in 2026 as Democrats Still Won Big
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Nov 13
Republican Redistricting Added 4-7 House Seats in 2026 as Democrats Still Won Big
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Nov 13
Summary
Preliminary estimates show Republicans' 2025 map redraws still netted 4 to 7 House seats in the 2026 midterms, even though Democrats won strongly enough to overcome many of the targeted gerrymanders.
Texas illustrates the effect: Democrats won the statewide House vote 53%-47% and gained a seat, yet Republicans still held a 24-14 delegation because the new map helped flip a Dallas-area district they likely would have lost.
Florida and likely Louisiana also left Republicans better off under the new lines, while North Carolina appears to be the lone state where the GOP may have done slightly worse after redistricting.
The broader finding is that partisan gerrymandering still gave Republicans a major structural edge; on party-blind maps, Democrats might have won 20-plus more seats and come close to the 290 needed for a veto-proof House majority.