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What’s the status of redistricting in your state?

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David Meyers
By David MeyersMar 07, 2022
David Meyers

David Meyers is the Executive Editor of The Fulcrum. Before launching The Fulcrum, David spent more than two decades at CQ Roll Call, a leading publisher of political news and information. During his time there, David served as managing editor of Roll Call (“the newspaper of Capitol Hill”) and as managing editor of member information and research, which included co-editing the definitive biographical directory of Congress, “Politics in America.” David went on to lead all of CQ Roll Call’s congressional research teams as vice president of research and content development before shifting to a revenue and strategy role as vice president of business operations for Roll Call, working with the advertising and editorial teams to develop new revenue models and expand the company’s events business. David lives in Fairfax, Va., with his wife, two daughters and rottweiler. A graduate of Tufts University, David is a past president of the Tufts University Alumni Association. He is also a past president of the Washington Press Club Foundation, which works to celebrate and advance the role of women and minorities in the media. David currently serves on the board of directors for Temple B’nai Shalom in Fairfax Station.

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Update: This story and the accompanying map were updated after the Supreme Court ruled Monday on congressional maps in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

The decennial redistricting process began nearly a year ago, when the Census Bureau announced the reapportionment of congressional districts. Over the past 11 months three-quarters of the states have finished drawing congressional and state legislative districts, while the remaining states are still developing plans or have been delayed by legal challenges.

And the results, when reviewed by independent analysts for partisanship competitiveness and geographic consistency, have been a mixed bag.

Lawsuits over congressional districts are ongoing in eight states: Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas, although courts have allowed some of the maps to stand while awaiting further review. The Supreme Court on Monday directed North Carolina and Pennsylvania to moved forward with court-drawn maps that favor Democrats rather than the versions drawn by legislators to bolster Republicans. The Supreme Court recently allowed Alabama to proceed with its new congressional map pending while agreeing to hear arguments on its constitutionality. Opponents of the map claim it violates the Voting Rights Act by limiting the political voice of Black voters.

Florida, Louisiana, Missouri and New Hampshire have yet to approve final maps for congressional and legislative districts. Alabama, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Vermont and Wyoming also need to complete the legislative maps.

While most states have some time to resolve their maps, Missouri is coming up on the March 29 filing deadline for candidates.

Made with Flourish

Three nonpartisan organizations — the Electoral Innovation Lab, the Princeton Gerrymandering Project and RepresentUs — have developed the Redistricting Report Card, which reviews congressional and legislative maps for partisan fairness, competitiveness and geography, in many cases offering grades to the states.

So far, they have awarded five A’s for congressional maps: Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, North Carolina and Virginia. At the other extreme, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Oregon and Texas have all received an F for their congressional maps.


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Young people worldwide form new parties to reshape politics—yet America’s two-party system blocks them.

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No Country for Young Politicians—and How To Fix That

In democracies around the world, young people have started new political parties whenever the establishment has sidelined their views or excluded them from policymaking. These parties have sometimes reinvigorated political competition, compelled established parties to take previously neglected issues seriously, or encouraged incumbent leaders to find better ways to include and reach out to young voters.

In Europe, a trio in their twenties started Volt in 2017 as a pan-European response to Brexit, and the party has managed to win seats in the European Parliament and in some national legislatures. In Germany, young people concerned about climate change created Klimaliste, a party committed to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as per the Paris Agreement. Although the party hasn’t won seats at the federal level, they have managed to win some municipal elections. In Chile, leaders of the 2011 student protests, who then won seats as independent candidates, created political parties like Revolución Democrática and Convergencia Social to institutionalize their movements. In 2022, one of these former student leaders, Gabriel Boric, became the president of Chile at 36 years old.

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How To Fix Gerrymandering: A Fair-Share Rule for Congressional Redistricting

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How To Fix Gerrymandering: A Fair-Share Rule for Congressional Redistricting

The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground. ~ Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Col. Edward Carrington, Paris, 27 May 1788

The Problem We Face

The U.S. House of Representatives was designed as the chamber of Congress most directly tethered to the people. Article I of the Constitution mandates that seats be apportioned among the states according to population and that members face election every two years—design features meant to keep representatives responsive to shifting public sentiment. Unlike the Senate, which prioritizes state sovereignty and representation, the House translates raw population counts into political voice: each House district is to contain roughly the same number of residents, ensuring that every citizen’s vote carries comparable weight. In principle, then, the House serves as the nation’s demographic mirror, channeling the diverse preferences of the electorate into lawmaking and acting as a safeguard against unresponsive or oligarchic governance.

Nationally, the mismatch between the overall popular vote and the partisan split in House seats is small, with less than a 1% tilt. But state-level results tell a different story. Take Connecticut: Democrats hold all five seats despite Republicans winning over 40% of the statewide vote. In Oklahoma, the inverse occurs—Republicans control every seat even though Democrats consistently earn around 40% of the vote.

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Once Again, Politicians Are Choosing Their Voters. It’s Time for Voters To Choose Back.
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Once Again, Politicians Are Choosing Their Voters. It’s Time for Voters To Choose Back.

Once again, politicians are trying to choose their voters to guarantee their own victories before the first ballot is cast.

In the latest round of redistricting wars, Texas Republicans are attempting a rare mid-decade redistricting to boost their advantage ahead of the 2026 midterms, and Democratic governors in California and New York are signaling they’re ready to “fight fire with fire” with their own partisan gerrymanders.

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Stolen Land, Stolen Votes: Native Americans Defending the VRA Protects Us All – and We Should Support Them

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Stolen Land, Stolen Votes: Native Americans Defending the VRA Protects Us All – and We Should Support Them

On July 24, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked a Circuit Court order in a far-reaching case that could affect the voting rights of all Americans. Native American tribes and individuals filed the case as part of their centuries-old fight for rights in their own land.

The underlying subject of the case confronts racial gerrymandering against America’s first inhabitants, where North Dakota’s 2021 redistricting reduced Native Americans’ chances of electing up to three state representatives to just one. The specific issue that the Supreme Court may consider, if it accepts hearing the case, is whether individuals and associations can seek justice under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). That is because the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, contradicting other courts, said that individuals do not have standing to bring Section 2 cases.

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