Republicans have gained an advantage in a national congressional redistricting battle among states ahead of the midterm elections

The looming loss of Black House districts across the South has raised the stakes in an open-seat primary in Philadelphia.

Much of the focus of the ongoing redistricting war has been on which political party will come out on top. But it's voters who will pay a cost, say voting experts and voting rights advocates.

Across the states that have had their maps redrawn, partisan gerrymandering is eroding the number of competitive districts where elections are actually won and lost.

Mississippi, however, has appeared to pour cold water on the prospect of a redraw in time for 2026, with Gov. Tate Reeves, R, canceling a special session and saying he saw "no need" to redraw the maps.

Republicans on Capitol Hill are seeking to shift the blame for the redistricting war onto Democrats, downplaying President Trump’s leading role in a gerrymandering frenzy that’s unpopular with voters of all stripes.

The ruling stems from a federal three-judge panel’s order in May 2025 that determined Mississippi lawmakers did not give Black voters in three areas of the state a fair chance to elect voters of their choice and ordered the state to conduct special elections for the new districts.

Mississippi could become the next state to redraw congressional district lines following last month’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Callais v. Louisiana.

South Carolina House Republicans passed a late-night rules change late May 18 that would allow them to accelerate the pace of a national effort to redraw Congressional lines ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.