Republican Redistricting Push Backfired in Several States, ABC and CBS Say

A two-year fight over congressional maps appears to have ended in Democrats’ favor, according to early assessments from ABC News and CBS News. Republicans redrew 15 seats, ABC reported, and are projected to lose more than two-thirds of them. CBS framed several of the Republican efforts as ‘dummymanders,’ a term for a gerrymander that ends up helping the other party.

In Texas, where Republicans targeted up to five more seats, CBS said the delegation went from 24 Republicans and 13 Democrats with one vacancy to 24 and 14. ABC reported Democrats held 11 of the 15 Republican-redrawn seats on its list, including Texas districts 9, 28, 34 and 35, while Republicans flipped the 32nd. In Ohio, CBS said Republicans aimed to net two seats by targeting Reps. Marcy Kaptur and Greg Landsman, but Democrats now hold eight seats to Republicans’ seven, up from five; ABC listed OH-1 and OH-9 as Democratic holds.

North Carolina saw nine Democratic wins as of Thursday with five Republican-held districts still toss-ups, per CBS; ABC listed NC-1 as a Democratic hold. In Alabama, both Democratic incumbents won, according to CBS. In Tennessee, where Republicans targeted the Memphis seat, CBS said they won the redrawn 9th, and ABC listed it as a Republican flip. In Florida, CBS said Republicans held 17 seats to Democrats’ seven with four toss-ups, and Louisiana had one toss-up and one runoff.

Some Republican plans never took effect. CBS reported that a state court ruled Missouri’s new map could not be used without voter approval, and the state delivered a 3-5 split after Democrats flipped one seat on the old map. The Republican-led Indiana Senate rejected Trump-backed redistricting, and Democrats finished with a 6-3 delegation, CBS said. In South Carolina, the state Senate rejected a measure aimed at Rep. Jim Clyburn, who won re-election.

Democrats’ counter-moves paid off in California and Utah. California voters approved Proposition 50, aimed at gaining five seats, and Democrats had won 44 districts with four more likely as of Thursday, CBS reported; ABC listed flips in CA-1, 3, 6, 41 and 48. In Utah, a judge selected a map creating a Democratic-leaning Salt Lake City district, and Democrat Ben McAdams won it by 47 points, CBS said, a flip ABC also counted. Virginia voters approved a redraw, but the state Supreme Court threw it out and the 2021 map held; Democrats still won eight seats to Republicans’ three, per CBS.

Maryland voters passed Question 3 by 20 points, removing compactness requirements for congressional districts, CBS said, and Democrats are likely to redraw the map to target the state’s one Republican member. The final House math will change as uncalled races are decided, and ABC’s tallies of what counts as a redrawn seat differ from CBS’s, so the totals above should be read as early estimates.