{"id":273198,"date":"2025-08-28T13:58:53","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T17:58:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?post_type=short-read&p=273198"},"modified":"2025-11-13T11:34:50","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T16:34:50","slug":"redistricting-between-censuses-has-been-rare-in-the-modern-era","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2025\/08\/28\/redistricting-between-censuses-has-been-rare-in-the-modern-era\/","title":{"rendered":"Redistricting between censuses has been rare in the modern era"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Texas
Texas state Sen. Pete Flores, R, looks at a proposed redistricting map on Aug. 22. The Senate went on to pass a midcycle redistricting bill early the next day. (Sara Diggins\/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Texas Republicans, at the urging of President Donald Trump, have redrawn<\/a> their state\u2019s congressional districts<\/a> to give the GOP an advantage in next year\u2019s midterm elections. The effort has led to a countermove by California<\/a> to redraw its<\/em> districts to give Democrats an edge. Several other states reportedly are considering similar moves<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Midcycle redistricting efforts like the ones in Texas and California have, up to now, been extremely uncommon. Since 1970, only two states \u2013 Texas in 2003 and this year, and Georgia in 2005 \u2013 have voluntarily redrawn their congressional maps between censuses for partisan advantage, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When midcycle redistricting occurs, it\u2019s usually because courts have thrown out the previous maps for violating state or federal law. In fact, 36 of the 40 midcycle redistricting changes since 1970 have either been made in response to a court order (20) or imposed by a court itself (16). In addition to Texas and Georgia, California is also an exception: After the 1982 elections, lawmakers passed a revised version of the congressional map that voters had rejected in a referendum<\/a> earlier that year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How we did this<\/summary>\n

The redistricting process is seldom foremost in the minds<\/a> of ordinary voters. But given the current confrontations between Republicans and Democrats in several states over redistricting, Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to find out how frequently, and under what circumstances, states have redrawn their U.S. House districts between censuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to the 1960s, few rules governed how states drew congressional districts (or districts for other offices). Some states went decades without drawing new lines. Others did so whenever a different party won control of the legislature. Still others added or dropped at-large seats as population changes \u2013 and legislative willpower \u2013 warranted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since a series of landmark \u201cone person, one vote\u201d court decisions in the 1960s, states must redraw their districts after each census to account for population shifts. Because the U.S. Census Bureau reports its official population figures toward the end of each census year, states typically redraw districts in years ending in \u201c1\u201d or \u201c2,\u201d in time for the next House election. Normally, that map would then be used for the next five general elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this analysis, we defined \u201cmidcycle redistricting\u201d as any redrawing of district boundaries that took place after<\/em> the initial post-census map was used in a general election and before<\/em> the next general election in a year ending with \u201c2.\u201d We began our analysis with the cycle following the 1970 census, after the \u201credistricting revolution\u201d of the 1960s established new norms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To track changes in district lines, we consulted several sources, notably The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts, 1789-1983<\/a>; a collection of digitized district maps<\/a> produced by UCLA political scientists that goes up to 2012; and media reports on state redistricting actions up to the present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After identifying midcycle changes, we examined media accounts, historical surveys and other sources to determine the context in which they were made. We coded each change as court-imposed<\/strong> (a court drew new maps itself); court-ordered<\/strong> (the legislature or other body drew new maps under court order); other mandatory<\/strong> (districts were redrawn because state law required them to be); or voluntary<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our source for election results was the Election Statistics<\/a> webpage maintained by the House Clerk\u2019s office.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

After each decennial census, states must redraw their congressional districts to account for population shifts. A long series of court rulings<\/a>, as well as state and federal laws, limits how those lines can be drawn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In most states, most of the time, redistricting is a one-and-done proposition until after the next census. But in a handful of states, redistricting has long been a more contentious affair, with maps being repeatedly drawn, redrawn and re-redrawn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Texas now and in 2003<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Currently, Texas sends 25 Republicans and 12 Democrats to the U.S. House. (One of the state\u2019s 38 seats is vacant because Rep. Sylvester Turner, a Democrat, died earlier this year.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Texas Republicans hope their proposed new map will result in Texans electing five more Republicans \u2013 and five fewer Democrats \u2013 to Congress in 2026. Democratic state lawmakers didn\u2019t have the votes to defeat the new map but temporarily blocked it by leaving the state<\/a>, depriving the Texas House of a quorum to do business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This summer\u2019s events in Texas may, for those with long memories, evoke a very similar set of circumstances<\/a> in 2003.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The saga began after the 2000 census, when the state\u2019s Democratic-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate couldn\u2019t agree on a new congressional map. A federal court drew one that was later used in the 2002 midterm elections. That November, Democrats won 17 of Texas\u2019 32 U.S. House seats, versus 15 for Republicans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simultaneously, Texas Republicans also won a majority in the state<\/em> House \u2013 meaning the GOP had full control of the state\u2019s legislative and executive branches. Upon taking power, Republicans proposed to redraw the congressional boundaries, even though the court-drawn map would have remained valid through the 2010 election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That move triggered multiple special sessions, walkouts by Democrats and other maneuvering, but eventually the GOP-dominated legislature passed the maps it wanted. And in the 2004 election, Republicans picked up six U.S. House seats in Texas, bolstering their overall majority in Congress. Despite a subsequent court declaring that one of the new districts was illegal, most of the GOP gains held for the rest of the decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Georgia in 2005<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Two years after Texas passed its new maps, Georgia Republicans also were able to redraw congressional district lines in their favor after winning full control of the state legislature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The process in Georgia was much less contentious than in Texas, perhaps because Republicans emphasized making districts more compact rather than maximizing their potential gains. But Georgia Republicans also hoped to bolster a vulnerable incumbent<\/a> and bring two Democratic-held seats within reach. In the end, though, the partisan makeup of the state\u2019s congressional delegation didn\u2019t change under the new maps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Midterm shifts in other states<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In other states, legislatures have turned midcycle redistricting ordered by courts to partisan advantage. Consider, for example, North Carolina:<\/strong> The Tar Heel State is no stranger to redistricting controversies<\/a> and is currently on its ninth congressional map since the 1990 census.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2016, North Carolina\u2019s GOP-run state legislature was tasked with drawing a new congressional map after a federal judge struck down the old one as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander<\/a>. At the time, there were 10 Republicans and three Democrats in the state\u2019s U.S. House delegation, and Republicans were determined to protect that dominance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As one lawmaker famously said<\/a>, \u201cI propose that we draw the maps to give a partisan advantage to 10 Republicans and three Democrats, because I do not believe it\u2019s possible to draw a map with 11 Republicans and two Democrats.\u201d And that, in fact, is what they did. The new map was used in the 2016 and 2018 elections before a state court threw it out<\/a> before the 2020 elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York<\/strong> also has a long track record of recent redistricting controversies. In 2022, the state\u2019s independent redistricting commission failed to agree on new maps, so the Democratic-led state legislature did so instead. New York\u2019s highest court threw out that plan, and a lower court imposed its own. That year, Democrats won 15 of New York\u2019s 26 U.S. House seats, and Republicans won the other 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in December 2023, New York\u2019s high court ruled that the court-drawn maps couldn\u2019t stay in place indefinitely and the commission and legislature had to try again. In February 2024, the legislature rejected the commission\u2019s plan and enacted its own instead. That year, Democrats won 19 seats and Republicans just seven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These sorts of moves recall an earlier time in U.S. political history, when redistricting was openly wielded for political gain. Ohio,<\/strong> for example, was notorious in the 19th century for frequently redrawing district lines<\/a> to advantage one party or the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between 1876 and 1892, as Republicans and Democrats traded control of Ohio\u2019s legislature, lawmakers redrew the state\u2019s district lines seven times. Five straight U.S. House elections (1878 to 1886) were conducted under different maps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, Ohio is up for its own round of midcycle redistricting soon. The map adopted in 2022<\/a> by the state\u2019s Republican-dominated redistricting commission didn\u2019t have bipartisan support. Under Ohio\u2019s constitution<\/a>, that meant the map could only be used for two election cycles. So the legislature \u2013 or, if that fails, the commission \u2013 must take another crack at coming up with a plan for the 2026 midterms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Utah<\/strong> may be joining the redistricting fray. A judge in that state has ordered the GOP-run legislature to redraw the map<\/a> it adopted in 2021, after undoing much of a voter-approved initiative that sought to ban partisan gerrymandering and create an independent redistricting commission. Under the legislature\u2019s map, Republicans won all four of Utah\u2019s U.S. House seats in both 2022 and 2024. Legislative leaders reportedly are considering an appeal<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CORRECTION (Nov. 13, 2025): The chart \u201cMidcycle redistricting was particularly common in the 1980s and 1990s\u201d has been corrected to move Virginia\u2019s court-ordered redistricting event to 1992-2000 and adjust the totals for 1982-1990 and 1992-2020 (seven and 13, respectively).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Midcycle redistricting efforts like the ones in Texas and California have, up to now, been extremely 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