What Redistricting Looks Like In Every State

Four states have now finalized their redrawn congressional maps for the 2020s: Oregon, Maine, Nebraska and, most recently, Indiana. The new maps in Maine, Nebraska and Indiana are only slightly different from the old ones, but Oregon Democrats were able to use their control of the redistricting process to draw a significantly more favorable map for the party. As a result, Democrats have gained two seats nationally from the redistricting process so far, but with Republicans in charge of redrawing many more congressional districts overall, that advantage is likely to be short-lived.

A few other states also appear to be close to finalizing their congressional maps. On Sept. 28, Colorado’s new independent commission settled on a map to submit to the state Supreme Court. Several other states have released proposed maps as well, including Texas, arguably the state where redistricting will have the biggest impact on the battle for the House in 2022. A state Senate committee has already advanced a proposal that would have the net effect of converting five of the state’s current competitive seats into safe or likely Democratic seats, while adding two new solidly Republican seats. The map isn’t as bad as it could have been for Democrats, but it still advantages Republicans per our median seat and efficiency gap metrics.

On the flip side, the Iowa state Senate voted to reject the first proposed map drawn by the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency, sending it back to the drawing board. Iowa is one of a handful of states that have nonpartisan advisory redistricting commissions but where the ultimate redistricting authority still lies with politicians. Indeed, one of the biggest questions of this redistricting cycle is whether those politicians will ignore their commissions and draw their own maps. Similar advisory commissions in Maryland and New York have released proposed maps as well, but they are also expected to be rebuffed.