Redistricting

California Special Election on Redistricting to Counter Texas GOP Gerrymandering

| Importance: 8/10

California voters decide Proposition 50 authorizing new congressional maps to flip 5 Republican seats Democratic, directly countering Trump-ordered Texas redistricting. Newsom’s “Election Rigging Response Act” bypasses independent commission through 2030 if any Republican state …

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Supreme Court Reargues Louisiana v. Callais, Threatens Voting Rights Act

| Importance: 9/10

The Supreme Court heard rare second-round oral arguments in Louisiana v. Callais, a case that could fundamentally weaken or eliminate Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The case questions whether Louisiana’s creation of a second majority-Black congressional district (which elected Rep. …

Supreme Court Louisiana ACLU NAACP Legal Defense Fund Cleo Fields supreme-court judiciary courts voting-rights redistricting +2 more
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Texas Democrats End 2-Week Standoff, Return for Trump-Ordered Redistricting Vote

| Importance: 9/10

Texas House Democrats return to Austin after 2-week quorum break in Illinois, ending resistance to Trump-ordered congressional redistricting. Republicans impose 24-hour security surveillance requiring DPS escorts and “permission slips” to leave chamber. Rep. Nicole Collier refuses, …

Texas House Democrats Nicole Collier Dustin Burrows Greg Abbott Ken Paxton +2 more redistricting gerrymandering quorum-break trump-interference democratic-surveillance +2 more
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Texas Legislature passes redistricting without Democrats present

| Importance: 10/10

In a controversial move, the Texas Legislature voted to change quorum rules and pass a new congressional map creating five additional safe Republican seats without Democratic members present. The legislature modified procedural rules to allow passage despite the absence of Democratic lawmakers, who …

Texas Legislature Texas Republicans Greg Abbott Texas House Democrats Todd Hunter redistricting gerrymandering quorum-violation constitutional-crisis electoral-manipulation +2 more
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Six Democratic states form redistricting defense pact

| Importance: 6/10

New York, Illinois, Oregon, Washington, Maryland, and New Jersey announce coordinated mid-cycle redistricting efforts to counter Republican gerrymandering, effectively ending the constitutional norm of decennial redistricting tied to census.

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California announces defensive mid-cycle redistricting in response to Texas

| Importance: 10/10

Governor Newsom announces plan to redraw California congressional maps to “put a stake in the heart” of Trump’s Texas redistricting, stating “We can sit on the sidelines and talk about the way the world should be, or we could recognize the existential nature that is this …

California Legislature Gavin Newsom California Democratic Party redistricting democratic-countermove constitutional-crisis electoral-arms-race mid-cycle-redistricting
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Texas House Democrats flee to Illinois to break quorum on redistricting

| Importance: 10/10

52 Texas House Democrats fled to Illinois to break quorum and prevent a vote on unprecedented mid-cycle redistricting that would create 5 new safe Republican congressional seats, echoing 2003 and 2021 walkouts but this time leaving state to avoid federal law enforcement. At least 51 Democratic …

Texas House Democrats Texas Legislature Illinois Governor JB Pritzker Gene Wu Josh Rush Nisenson +1 more redistricting democratic-resistance quorum-break interstate-politics constitutional-crisis +1 more
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Trump demands Texas conduct mid-cycle redistricting for 5 new GOP seats

| Importance: 10/10

President Trump publicly demands Texas Governor Abbott conduct unprecedented mid-cycle redistricting to create 5 new safe Republican congressional seats. Abbott initially resists, citing constitutional concerns and costs. Democratic legislators flee to Illinois to break quorum, with civil arrest …

Donald Trump Greg Abbott Texas Legislature redistricting gerrymandering constitutional-crisis electoral-manipulation mid-cycle-redistricting
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Allen v. Milligan reaffirms Voting Rights Act §2; orders additional majority-Black district in Alabama

| Importance: 9/10

The Supreme Court held that Alabama’s congressional map likely violated §2 of the Voting Rights Act and ordered a remedy adding a second majority-Black district. The ruling preserved the Thornburg v. Gingles framework for vote-dilution claims, affecting redistricting nationally.

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Supreme Court blocks 2020 Census citizenship question as 'contrived'; filings tie rationale to Hofeller partisan plan

| Importance: 10/10

In Department of Commerce v. New York, the Supreme Court held that the Secretary’s stated rationale for adding a Census citizenship question was “contrived” and set aside the decision. Separate court filings introduced the late GOP strategist Thomas Hofeller’s 2015 study and …

U.S. Department of Commerce U.S. Census Bureau Supreme Court of the United States Thomas Hofeller census voting-rights redistricting administrative-law
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Republican State Leadership Committee Launches REDMAP Gerrymandering Project

| Importance: 9/10

The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) launches REDMAP (Redistricting Majority Project), a strategic initiative to gain control of state legislatures before the 2011 redistricting cycle following the 2010 Census. The project represents an unprecedented systematic approach to gerrymandering …

Republican State Leadership Committee Ed Gillespie Karl Rove gerrymandering electoral-manipulation republican-party redistricting REDMAP
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