Trump’s gerrymanders fail spectacularly as Democrats hold nearly every seat

President Donald Trump pressed red states to rip up and redraw their voting maps early in an attempt to shore up Republican control of Congress, only to watch those efforts backfire as Democrats held onto nearly every targeted seat.

Democrats seized both houses of Congress from Republicans, buoyed by a blue tsunami that delivered a historic rebuke to Trump and his party. The tidal wave election sent Republicans a stark reminder that voters value democracy. 

Texas Republicans enthusiastically kicked off the redistricting wars last year, redrawing maps to add five new Republican-leaning districts only to watch their efforts backfire spectacularly.

Where GOP gerrymanders failed in the 2026 midterm elections

Republicans have likely lost four out of five targeted seats in Texas — as well as another three GOP-held districts that flipped to Democrats. Instead of picking up five seats Trump claimed Republicans were “entitled” to in Texas, the GOP is poised to hold fewer seats than before it redrew the map. Texas’ 9th District has not yet been called by the Associated Press, but Democrat Leticia Gutierrez leads Republican Alex Mealer 57 to 42 in a Houston district Trump would have won by 20 points in 2024.

Texans didn’t simply reject the gerrymander — they voted out their entire state leadership, including Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who led the redistricting effort at Trump’s request. Democrats will lead Texas for the first time in a generation. One of the only Republicans to come out ahead is Chris Gober, Elon Musk’s attorney, who directed the gerrymander as an attorney at the Republican National Committee. He won his race to represent the redrawn District 10 between Austin and Houston.

Where Texas and Florida’s gerrymanders backfired

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ GOP gerrymander appears to have failed completely. Democrats are on track to hold all four targeted seats. Three Democratic wins are confirmed, and Rep. Darren Soto (D) currently leads Dan Green (R) in a tight 50-49 race for Florida’s 9th District near Orlando while counting continues.

Voters also rejected North Carolina’s GOP gerrymander, delivering a Democratic landslide. Republicans targeted the 1st District, which Rep. Don Davis (D) is currently leading by 50-46. However, that race has not been called yet. In a stunning twist, North Carolinians flipped five more districts for Democrats and a sixth has not yet been called.

Missouri voters resoundingly blocked the GOP gerrymander in their state. Not only did they return Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D) to represent Kansas City’s 5th District — they blocked a Republican gerrymander from being used in the future in a referendum vote. Missouri voters also flipped District 2 west of St. Louis that had been held by Rep. Ann Wagner (R).  That means Republicans are now worse off than before they gerrymandered.

Republicans also redrew Ohio’s congressional map last year, aiming to flip two seats held by Democrats. Instead, Democratic incumbents have held both. Voters handed Democrats two more House victories, with a third not yet called. 

The GOP’s wave of last-minute gerrymanders across the South hasn’t yielded the easy wins Republicans expected. Alabama voters rejected the GOP’s gerrymander, returning Rep. Shomari Figures (D) to Congress in the face of long odds. In Tennessee, the targeted district has not yet been called, but Democratic state Rep. Justin Pearson — who led a historic fight against the gerrymander — trails by less than 3,000 votes. 

And in Louisiana — where Republicans took the unprecedented step of upending a primary election that was already underway just to gerrymander one House seat — the top two vote-getters this week, one Democrat and one Republican, will now head to a runoff. 

Results in Republican-redrawn districts

In a cruel irony for Republicans, their gerrymandering crusade pushed Democrats in California to redraw its own maps to counter anticipated GOP gains. After voters wiped out most of those expected wins in Texas, California is on track to add another five Democrats to Congress with two races yet to be called.

Though Virginia’s Supreme Court shot down Democrats’ efforts to redraw its voting maps this year, voters will have the last word. One of the targeted seats near Virginia Beach has already flipped to Democrats. A second race is still being counted but currently trending blue.

After starting the redistricting wars with a sense of triumph, there are signs Republicans are rethinking the strategy in the face of voters’ stinging rebuke. Georgia Republicans had balked at Trump’s demand for an 11th-hour gerrymander. Instead, Gov. Brian Kemp (R) had suggested drawing new maps during a later special legislative session. By Wednesday morning, Kemp reversed course, taking the prospect of new maps off the table.