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Here’s What States Might Do After the Voting Rights Decision

April 30, 2026
in News
Here’s What States Might Do After the Voting Rights Decision

The Supreme Court’s landmark decision on Wednesday to make it significantly harder to justify drawing political districts to give minority voters representation is likely to have far-reaching consequences.

But beyond Louisiana, which had its maps explicitly ruled unconstitutional, it was not clear whether other states would act ahead of November’s midterm elections. The Republican-led states of Tennessee and South Carolina might. No Democratic-led states expressed interest.

Here’s a look at which states under one-party control still have primary elections to come, and whether they plan to change their maps before then.

Tennessee (R) — Maybe

Early voting, July 17, primary, Aug. 6

Several Republicans — including President Trump — are pushing for the General Assembly to reconvene in the coming weeks to approve a new map that would slice up the state’s lone remaining Democrat-held district, out of Memphis, a longtime stronghold for Black voters.

In an interview, the House speaker, Cameron Sexton, said a new map before the midterms was “a strong possibility” and the ruling “opens up the door to take a better look at it” than during the last redistricting cycle.

Mr. Trump on Thursday said he had spoken to Gov. Bill Lee about redrawing maps and said the governor had committed to doing so, though a timeline was unclear.

South Carolina (R) — Maybe

Early voting, May 26, primary, June 9

Though Republicans running for governor are applying pressure, G.O.P. leaders in the South Carolina Legislature have not appeared eager to try to draw away the state’s last Democratic House seat. State Senator Shane Massey told reporters in January that if Republicans “get too cute with this,” they could create two potentially competitive districts.

Still, in South Carolina’s House, some conservative lawmakers urged the Legislature to quickly act to ensure Mr. Trump receives all of the state’s U.S. House seats in November. The state’s legislative session ends on May 14.

Georgia (R) — Doubtful

Early voting, April 27, primary, May 19

Early voting began on Monday for Georgia’s primaries, complicating any effort to redraw congressional districts for the midterms. Still, Rick Jackson, a billionaire businessman who has emerged as a Republican front-runner for governor, has said the State Legislature should draw a new map. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, his main Republican rival, has also signaled his support.

That said, the person with the power to call lawmakers into a special session — Gov. Brian Kemp — has been tempered. Mr. Kemp’s office said he was “actively analyzing this ruling and its potential impacts.”

Utah (R) — Unlikely

Early voting, June 9, primary, June 23

Elections are moving ahead with a newly drawn map that creates a Democratic-leaning district in Salt Lake County. Utah Republicans made several attempts to get the court-ordered map thrown out, but their legal challenges all failed. So last week they picked Riley Owen, a Navy Reserve intelligence officer, as their nominee for what even the candidate acknowledged would be a difficult race.

Alabama (R) — No

Early voting, March 25, primary, May 19

While Gov. Kay Ivey roundly applauded the Supreme Court’s decision, she said the state’s own court battles would preclude Republicans from drawing new districts, possibly until after the 2030 census.

“For too long,” she said, “federal courts forced states like Alabama into a no-win situation at the hands of activists who want us to draw maps that discriminate against our own citizens based on race. As the Supreme Court rightly recognized, the Alabama of today is not the Alabama of the past.”

Oregon (D) — No

Early voting, April 29, primary, May 19

Early voting has already begun, but there’s been little momentum to redistrict anyway, largely because there’s little Democrats could gain. They control five of the six House seats, and some Democrats fear any changes aimed at flipping the Republican-held seat could risk making other districts less comfortable for Democratic candidates.

New Jersey (D) — No

Early voting, May 26, primary, June 2

Like California, New Jersey’s Constitution requires a bipartisan redistricting commission, but unlike in California, New Jersey Democrats have shown no appetite for finding a way around the mandate. To change the State Constitution, the Legislature would need to vote — possibly twice — to place a referendum on the ballot, and then get voter approval. California did that. New Jersey won’t.

Republicans are still worried. State Senator Doug Steinhardt, a former chairman of the state Republican Party who helped lead New Jersey’s 2022 redistricting commission, said that texts were flying on Thursday among Republican leaders about the possibility of trying to fast-track redistricting.

“June, definitely not. November, probably not,” Mr. Steinhardt said in an interview.

Maryland (D) — No

Early voting, June 11, primary, June 23

Though Gov. Wes Moore and other Democrats brought immense pressure, Bill Ferguson, president of the state senate, refused to bring a redistricting bill to a vote. Mr. Ferguson, a Democrat, believed that quickly adopting a new map that aimed to eliminate the state’s lone Republican seat would likely backfire on Democrats if and when the courts got involved. Then the legislative session ended on April 14. Both Mr. Ferguson and Mr. Moore released statements slamming the Supreme Court ruling. Neither said anything about reopening the redistricting debate.

New York (D) — No

Early voting, June 13, primary, June 23

New York’s primaries in June will go forward. But the ruling has reignited a push in the Legislature to amend the State Constitution to make it easier for the ruling party, currently the Democrats, to redistrict to their advantage by 2028. That would take passage by two separately elected legislatures, which isn’t expected to be a problem, and approval by voters, which could be. The governor has no formal role.

The proposal being currently considered would leave the state’s redistricting commission as is, five Democrats, five Republicans, but allow the Legislature to draw maps when it inevitably deadlocks.

Colorado (D) — No

Early voting, June 22, primary, June 30

Colorado Democrats said restrictions in the State Constitution made it impossible to redraw their state’s congressional boundaries for the 2026 midterms. Those lines are set by an independent redistricting commission approved by voters in 2018. The districts it created gave Democrats and Republicans a 4-to-4 split in the House, in a state that is entirely Democratic-controlled. Left-leaning groups are trying to pass ballot measures that would undo the commission’s power and redraw the state’s district maps in time for the 2028 elections to give Democrats as much as a 7-to-1 edge. But proponents say they cannot do anything this year.

“It’s completely impossible for the 2026 election,” said Curtis Hubbard, a former journalist and a spokesman for the redistricting ballot measures, called Coloradans for a Level Playing Field.

Missouri (R) — No

Early voting, July 21, primary, Aug. 4

Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican, seemed to downplay the possibility of another redistricting push in his state when asked by The Kansas City Star on Wednesday. He told the newspaper that he was happy with the map that lawmakers had redrawn last year, which positions Republicans to flip one Democrat-held seat in the midterms and leave one last Democratic seat. “We’re looking forward to seeing how that works out this election cycle,” he said.

Washington (D) — No

Early voting, July 17, primary, Aug. 4

A Democratic bill that would have allowed Washington to redraw its congressional lines in the middle of a decade — if other states first did the same — failed in the Legislature’s recent session. Redistricting in Washington is conducted by a bipartisan and independent commission, and two-thirds of the members in both legislative chambers must agree to redistrict early. Along with the governor’s office, Democrats control the House and Senate, but not by a margin wide enough to force through redistricting over Republican opposition. Republicans hold two of Washington’s 10 U.S. House seats.

Reporting was contributed by Anna Griffin, Mitch Smith, Benjamin Oreskes, Grace Ashford, Rick Rojas and Tracey Tully.

Emily Cochrane is a national reporter for The Times covering the American South, based in Nashville.

The post Here’s What States Might Do After the Voting Rights Decision appeared first on New York Times.

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