netscape.com: https://isp.netscape.com:443/news/story/0001/20260524/8628980ac7e2e1fc209d9e6511dfc45c

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Subject: J000294
Source: GDELT news · original
Published: Sunday, May 24, 2026

Democrats vow a redistricting counterpunch but are facing hurdles Republicans don't - Netscape News Netscape Internet Service News News Home U.S. World Entertainment Money Politics Sports Science Health Odd News Democrats vow a redistricting counterpunch but are facing hurdles Republicans don't By NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press Democrats are poised to finish several seats behind Republicans in 2026 in the nationwide race to redraw maps for the U.S. House . They can catch up in 2028, but only if they overcome a series of redistricting hurdles that the GOP does not face. That's because Democrats, in many states, can draw partisan political lines only if they evade constraints — some self-imposed — on their ability to counterpunch. In Colorado, New Jersey, New York and Washi

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Democrats vow a redistricting counterpunch but are facing hurdles Republicans don't - Netscape News Netscape Internet Service News News Home U.S. World Entertainment Money Politics Sports Science Health Odd News Democrats vow a redistricting counterpunch but are facing hurdles Republicans don't By NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press Democrats are poised to finish several seats behind Republicans in 2026 in the nationwide race to redraw maps for the U.S. House . They can catch up in 2028, but only if they overcome a series of redistricting hurdles that the GOP does not face. That's because Democrats, in many states, can draw partisan political lines only if they evade constraints &#x2014; some self-imposed &#x2014; on their ability to counterpunch. In Colorado, New Jersey, New York and Washington, redistricting commissions draw boundaries that are not supposed to benefit either party. Democrats will have to gain voters' permission to nullify those politically popular bodies and replace their balanced maps with ruthlessly gerrymandered ones to match what Republicans did after President Donald Trump last year demanded a sweeping redrawing in Republican-controlled states in an attempt to help his party keep its House majority. If the Democrats get a detail wrong in their process, courts could unwind the new maps. That is what happened in Virginia this month when the state Supreme Court invalidated voter-approved maps that would have given Democrats four more winnable seats. The court found the Democratic-controlled legislature did not follow the correct procedure when it placed the measure on the ballot. &#x201c;It's going to be expensive, it's going to be unpopular, and it's going to be a challenge for them to do what they want,&#x201d; said Adam Kincaid, executive director of the National Republican Redistricting Trust. The next census will present another challenge for Democrats Democrats remain favored to win control of the House this year despite recent setbacks in redistricting. The most consequential was the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court gutting a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, allowing Republicans to swiftly eliminate at least three majority-Black House seats in the South that Democrats now hold. Strategists for both parties expect Democratic gains in November that are typical when the party of an incumbent president faces voter backlash in a midterm election. In Trump's first midterm in 2018, for example, Democrats added 40 seats in the House. But a 2028 House majority looks much harder for Democrats. Presidential votes are usually much closer than midterm ones. Under the recent high court decision, Republicans next year could easily eliminate another five or more majority-minority Democratic-held districts in states whose maps were already set for 2026. They can likely gain an additional four seats by redrawing maps in Indiana, where some state lawmakers balked last year and were punished by Republican primary vote

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