A new analysis found that 34.8 million Americans now live in different congressional districts than they did during the 2024 election cycle as an unusual wave of mid-decade redistricting reshapes House maps across multiple states.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
WASHINGTON — Nearly 35 million Americans have been moved into different congressional districts since the 2024 election as states across the country redraw U.S. House boundaries outside the traditional once-a-decade redistricting process, according to a new analysis released Thursday.
Protect Democracy calculated that 34.8 million people — approximately one in every 10 Americans — now reside in congressional districts different from those they occupied during the previous election cycle. The findings were reported by the Associated Press as states continue dealing with political and legal disputes over congressional maps.
The changes extend beyond voters who were formally moved across district boundaries. About one-fifth of Americans live in districts where more than one-quarter of the electorate is new compared with the 2024 election, according to the analysis.
Protect Democracy said nine states redrew congressional maps during 2025 and 2026, producing what the organization described as a modern record for mid-decade congressional redistricting.
Ben Raderstorf, a Protect Democracy policy advocate and co-author of the report, said repeated redrawing of district boundaries could alter the relationship between lawmakers and the people they represent.
“If this trend continues, it really brings into question whether or not elected officials are really representing their constituents anymore, or if the voters are being randomly picked by mapmakers to squeeze out partisan advantage,” Raderstorf said.
The latest cycle began after President Donald Trump called on Republican-controlled Texas to redraw its congressional districts between decennial censuses in an effort to create additional districts favorable to Republicans. The Republican-led Texas Legislature subsequently approved new boundaries.
California responded by placing a new congressional map before voters. The measure was approved, temporarily replacing congressional boundaries drawn by the state’s independent redistricting commission with districts designed by Democratic lawmakers for the current election cycle.
Other states subsequently became involved in the escalating redistricting effort, resulting in significant changes to districts well before the next census would ordinarily trigger another nationwide round of mapmaking.
The Associated Press reported that the combined redistricting efforts have produced a potential partisan effect equivalent to as many as nine additional Republican-held seats, although actual House results will be determined by voters in individual districts.
Protect Democracy argues that the effects extend beyond partisan seat calculations.
The organization said repeatedly changing congressional boundaries can disrupt relationships between constituents and representatives, complicate political organizing and make it more difficult for voters to determine who represents them and which candidates will appear on their ballots.
Missouri has provided one of the clearest examples of that disruption.
Republican lawmakers there approved a new congressional map that was used during the state’s August primary. A subsequent legal fight centered on whether voters were entitled to challenge the map through a statewide referendum.
The Missouri Supreme Court ruled Sept. 3 that the referendum effort was valid and that the new map had not legally taken effect. The court directed election officials to return to the congressional boundaries adopted in 2022 for the November general election unless voters later approve the replacement map.
The U.S. Supreme Court then declined to allow the newer map to be reinstated for the general election, leaving Missouri election officials to conduct November voting under the previous district boundaries.
The rapid changes left some Missouri voters temporarily assigned to one congressional district for the primary and another for the general election. Campaigns and election administrators also had to adjust after preparing for races under the newer boundaries.
Protect Democracy warned that repeated partisan responses between states could create what the organization characterized as a “doom loop,” in which each party redraws congressional districts more aggressively whenever it has the political authority to do so because leaders fear allowing the opposing party to gain an advantage elsewhere.
The group also contends that heavily partisan maps can reduce the number of competitive congressional districts and make incumbent lawmakers less responsive to changes in public opinion. Those conclusions represent the organization’s analysis of the consequences of redistricting rather than findings by an election authority or court.
Nine states currently use independent or nonpartisan commissions in some form to draw congressional boundaries, but the latest disputes have demonstrated that those systems do not necessarily prevent states from changing maps between censuses.
California, for example, temporarily set aside the congressional map produced through its independent commission after voters approved the alternative boundaries proposed in response to Texas.
Protect Democracy suggested structural changes including proportional representation and agreements between the political parties to use nonpartisan redistricting procedures. Such changes would require significant legislative or electoral action and have not been adopted nationally.
Raderstorf said he expects pressure for additional redistricting to continue unless governments change the rules governing the process.
“This is only going to get worse until somebody stops it,” Raderstorf said. “The logic of gerrymandering points inevitably towards maximalist partisan advantage on both sides. There is no off-ramp other than reform. It is the only way to break the cycle.”
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