The Virginia Supreme Court blocked a Democrat's redistricting map from redistricting

President Donald Trump and the Republicans praised the decision of the Virginia Supreme Court to deny the method of prohibiting the voting of the Congress, which caused a major setback for the Democrats in the battle to require a majority of the American Senate.

“The Republican Party won big,” the president said on social media Friday, minutes after Virginia's highest court overturned a referendum passed by voters last month.

A new map drawn by the Virginia legislature would have given Democrats four more left-leaning House districts in the Commonwealth ahead of this year's midterm elections, where Republicans will be protecting their slim majority in the chamber.

The Virginia decision, along with the recent dissenting majority opinion on the Supreme Court's violation of important protections of the Voting Rights Act, gives Trump and the GOP a big boost in their ongoing political battle with Democrats to redraw congressional district maps ahead of the midterms. At stake in this nationwide reassertion race is which party will control the House during the final two years of Trump's second term in the White House.

PREFACE-BLOCKBUSTER: VIRGINIA SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN DEMOCRAT'S CONGRESSIONAL MAP

In Virginia, the decision means that the map used in the 2024 election will remain in place for the 2026 ballot box displays. Democrats currently control the state's US House delegation by a 6-5 margin. A flipped map would now have a 10-1 favorability for Democrats in a blue-leaning but competitive state.

After their latest legislative setback, House Democratic Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York said, “We are exploring all options to reverse this shocking decision.”

And the House minority leader vowed, “No matter what it takes, House Democrats will win in November to help rescue this nation from the tyranny of Donald Trump and the Republicans.”

But the 2026 redistricting battles are far from over, and the political landscape could get even tougher for Democrats going forward.

Here is where things stand.

in Louisiana

The Supreme Court decision reshaped the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 by ruling that race should not determine the redrawing of legislative district maps. And the opinion ruled that the Louisiana state map was unconstitutional.

Last week, the Supreme Court announced its decision Map of Louisiana The unconstitutionality must go into effect immediately, breaking with its usual process of waiting about a month before its opinions become legal.

That cleared the way for the GOP-controlled state legislature to begin the process of redrawing the map, and hearings began Friday.

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry of Louisiana, right, a close ally of President Donald Trump, has delayed his state's US House primaries as the GOP-dominated legislature redraws Louisiana's state map (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Republican Governor Jeff Landry, who is a close friend of Trump, acted quickly after the high court's decision, when he postponed the May 16 election for the US House in Louisiana.

Louisiana Republicans aim to clear one or both seats of the Black-majority House, which is represented by Democrats.

Tennessee

Tennessee Republicans are moving too fast.

The GOP-dominated Tennessee legislature on Thursday quickly adopted a new map that would eliminate the state's only Democratic congressional district, and potentially give Republicans control of all nine states.

TENN GOV LEE CALLS SPECIAL SESSION TO REDAW HOUSE MAPS FAVOR GOP 9-0

Rep. Justin J. Pearson, D-Memphis, center, walks with protesters before a special session of the state legislature to redraw voting maps for the US Congress, in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (Photo by George Walker IV/AP)

GOP Gov. Bill Lee immediately signed the new maps into law.

Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen, who represents the majority-Black district, vowed to take legal action.

“Trump knows he HAS to step up the game to keep his majority in November. And the TN GOP was willing to go along with it. Shame,” Cohen wrote on social media. “The next stop is the courts.”

Alabama

Lawmakers in Alabama legislaturewhere the GOP has a majority in both chambers, they advanced legislation as they met this past week in a special session focused on recounts. The new maps could result in eliminating one or both of the US House districts that lean blue.

The special session was called by Gov. Republican Kay Ivey.

But any new map passed by Alabama lawmakers would need to be cleared by the Supreme Court. This is because Alabama is currently barred by the Supreme Court from reimposing restrictions until 2030. It is unclear whether the court will lift its order.

Protests have rocked the legislatures of Alabama and Tennessee as Republican lawmakers push for new maps.

South Carolina

In South Carolina, the GOP-controlled legislature returns to a special session Monday, as Republican lawmakers consider a new map that could unseat Rep. Longtime Jim Clyburn, the only Democrat on the seven-member House panel, is on the job.

Georgia

Republicans in Georgia are divided on the decision of Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia not to call state lawmakers into a special session to reimpose limits.

The state primary is May 19 and early voting is underway in Georgia.

In Florida

Meanwhile, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a bill passed last week by the GOP-dominated state legislature that redraws congressional districts for the hotly contested district, adding four more right-leaning seats by eliminating districts currently held by Democrats.

Republicans currently control Florida's House of Representatives by a 20-8 margin.

How did we get here

The battle of the maps began last spring when Trump, aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House when the Democrats regained the majority of the House in the middle of 2018, began to float the idea of ​​​​an unusual, but not unknown, reintroduction of Congress in the middle of the decade.

The goal was simple: redraw congressional district maps in red states to shift the fragile GOP House majority to maintain control of the chamber during a period, when the governing party often faces political storms and loses seats.

When asked by reporters last summer about his plan to add Republican-leaning House seats across the country, the president said, “Texas is going to be the biggest. And it's going to be five.”

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas called a special session of the GOP-dominated state legislature to pass the new map.

But Democratic state lawmakers, who had breached the quorum for two weeks while fleeing Texas in an attempt to delay passage of a redistricting bill, have empowered Democrats across the country. Among those leading the fight against Trump's redistricting ban is Gov. Gavin Newsom of California.

California voters in November overwhelmingly passed Proposition 50, a ballot initiative that temporarily sidelined the state's nonpartisan commission and returned congressional map-drawing power to the Democratic-dominated legislature.

That led to five more Democratic-leaning congressional districts in California, which aimed to oppose Texas' move to redraw their maps.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during an election night press conference at the California Democratic Party office in Sacramento on Nov. 4, 2025. (Photo by Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP)

But the fighting soon spread beyond Texas and California.

Republican-controlled Missouri and Ohio and the state of North Carolina, where the GOP controls the legislature, drew new maps as part of the president's push.

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But in a blow to Republicans, a Utah state judge late last year rejected a congressional district map drawn by the GOP-dominated legislature and instead approved one that would create a Democratic-leaning district ahead of the midterms.

And Indiana Senate Republicans in December defied Trump, rejecting a redistricting bill that had passed the state House.

Facing the president's wrath, five of those Republican state legislators in Indiana were ousted by Trump-backed opponents in last week's GOP primary.