How redistricting is done and why it could give parties an edge in 2026 elections

As California and Texas scramble to redraw U.S. House maps before the 2026 midterm elections, the race is underlining redistricting’s big role in determining political power.

Texas took action after President Donald Trump directed Republican-controlled states to change where the district lines are drawn based on where the population is likely to vote Republican — a practice known as partisan gerrymandering. California Democrats on Thursday approved their redrawn congressional map in response.

Midterm elections often go against the president’s party. Trump is trying to avoid a repeat of the 2018 midterms, when the GOP yielded control during his first presidency to a Democratic majority that stymied his agenda and twice impeached him.

Early Saturday, the GOP-controlled state Senate approved the new maps over Democratic opposition, meaning they now go before Republican Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature. The governor has vowed to sign off on the newly drawn congressional districts soon. The maps were drawn so Republicans could potentially pick up five seats in Congress.

The maps OK'd by the California Legislature were drawn so Democrats could add five seats. California voters will decide in a November special election whether to approve the maps.

Here’s what to know.

Each decade, the Census Bureau collects population data that is used to divvy up the 435 U.S. House seats proportionally among the 50 states. States that grew relative to others might gain a House seat at the expense of states in which populations stagnated or declined.

California and Texas, with the highest populations, have the highest number of representatives of all states.

Most states use their own rules and procedures to create the districts represented by each House member. The states with the lowest population numbers receive only one representative, which means the entire state is a single congressional district.

Americans can find their representative and see a map of their district on the U.S. House website.

The word “gerrymander” was coined in America over 200 years ago as an unflattering means of describing political manipulation in legislative mapmaking.

In states where lawmakers make the maps: If a political party controls a state's legislature and governor’s office — or has such a large legislative majority that it can override vetoes — it can effectively draw districts to its advantage.

One common method of gerrymandering is for a majority political party to draw maps that pack voters who support the opposing party into a few districts, thus allowing the majority party to win a greater number of surrounding districts.

Another method is for the majority party to dilute the power of an opposing party’s voters by spreading them among multiple districts.

By the first midterm elections after the most recent population count, each state is ready with its district maps, but those districts don’t always hold. Courts can find that the political lines are unconstitutional.

While some states have their own limitations, there is no national impediment to a state trying to redraw districts in the middle of the decade. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2019 ruled that the Constitution does not prohibit partisan gerrymandering to increase a party's clout, only gerrymandering that’s explicitly done by race.

“The laws about redistricting just say you have to redistrict after every census,” Doug Spencer, Rothgerber Jr. Chair in Constitutional Law at the University of Colorado, has said. “And then some state legislatures got a little clever and said, ’Well it doesn’t say we can’t do it more.’”

Trump urged Texas to redraw maps to help the GOP, and his team has signaled that efforts could expand to other states, with a similar push underway in Missouri and Indiana. Ohio Republicans were already revising their map before Texas took action.

The new California maps would need to be approved by voters in a special election in November because that state normally operates with a nonpartisan commission drawing the map to avoid the very sort of political battle that is playing out.

Democrats in Maryland and New York are mulling map revisions as well. New York, however, can’t draw new maps until 2028, and even then, only with voter approval.

Democratic-run states have commission systems like California’s or other redistricting limits more often than Republican ones do, leaving the GOP with a freer hand to swiftly redraw maps.

The new maps in Texas and California likely will be challenged in court.

Texas state Rep. Marc LaHood looks over a map as lawmakers prepare to debate a redrawn U.S. congressional map in Texas during a special, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Texas Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, oversees a debate over a redrawn U.S. congressional map in Texas during a special session, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Democratic lawmakers talk to the media and supporters after House Republicans approved a redrawn U.S. congressional map in Texas during a special session, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Protesters gather outside of the House Chamber where Democratic Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier refuses to leave due to a required law enforcement escort, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Texas state Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, right, looks at a protester dressed as death standing outside of the House Chamber where Democratic Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier refuses to leave due to a required law enforcement escort, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Democratic Texas state Rep. Mihaela Plesa, center, and Rep. Cassandra Garcia Hernandez, right, tear up their 'permission slips' outside of the House Chamber as they plan to join fellow Rep. Nicole Collier who refuses to leave due to a required law enforcement escort, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Texas Democratic lawmakers return to Texas after leaving two weeks ago to block a vote on a redrawn redistricting map, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a news conference Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Texas Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows strikes the gavel as the House calls a Special Session with a quorum, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

NUUK, Greenland (AP) — Troops from several European countries continued to arrive in Greenland on Thursday in a show of support for Denmark as talks between representatives of Denmark, Greenland and the U.S. highlighted “fundamental disagreement” over the future of the Arctic island.

Denmark announced it would increase its military presence in Greenland on Wednesday as foreign ministers from Denmark and Greenland were preparing to meet with White House representatives in Washington. Several European partners — including France, Germany, the U.K., Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands — started sending symbolic numbers of troops already on Wednesday or promised to do so in the following days.

The troop movements were intended to portray unity among Europeans and send a signal to President Donald Trump that an American takeover of Greenland is not necessary as NATO together can safeguard the security of the Arctic region amid rising Russian and Chinese interest.

“The first French military elements are already en route” and “others will follow,” French President Emmanuel Macron announced Wednesday, as French authorities said about 15 soldiers from the mountain infantry unit were already in Nuuk for a military exercise.

Germany will deploy a reconnaissance team of 13 personnel to Greenland on Thursday, the Defense Ministry said.

On Thursday, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the intention was “to establish a more permanent military presence with a larger Danish contribution,” according to Danish broadcaster DR. He said soldiers from several NATO countries will be in Greenland on a rotation system.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, flanked by his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt, said Wednesday that a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland remains with Trump after they held highly anticipated talks at the White House with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Rasmussen added that it remains “clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland” but that dialogue with the U.S. would continue at a high level over the following weeks.

Inhabitants of Greenland and Denmark reacted with anxiety but also some relief that negotiations with the U.S. would go on and European support was becoming visible.

Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen welcomed the continuation of “dialogue and diplomacy.”

“Greenland is not for sale,” he said Thursday. “Greenland does not want to be owned by the United States. Greenland does not want to be governed from the United States. Greenland does not want to be part of the United States.”

In Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, local residents told The Associated Press they were glad the first meeting between Greenlandic, Danish and American officials had taken place but suggested it left more questions than answers.

Several people said they viewed Denmark’s decision to send more troops, and promises of support from other NATO allies, as protection against possible U.S. military action. But European military officials have not suggested the goal is to deter a U.S. move against the island.

Maya Martinsen, 21, said it was “comforting to know that the Nordic countries are sending reinforcements” because Greenland is a part of Denmark and NATO.

The dispute, she said, is not about “national security” but rather about “the oils and minerals that we have that are untouched.”

On Wednesday, Poulsen announced a stepped-up military presence in the Arctic “in close cooperation with our allies,” calling it a necessity in a security environment in which “no one can predict what will happen tomorrow.”

“This means that from today and in the coming time there will be an increased military presence in and around Greenland of aircraft, ships and soldiers, including from other NATO allies,” Poulsen said.

Asked whether the European troop movements were coordinated with NATO or what role the U.S.-led military alliance might play in the exercises, NATO referred all questions to the Danish authorities. However, NATO is currently studying ways to bolster security in the Arctic.

The Russian embassy in Brussels on Thursday lambasted what it called the West's “bellicose plans” in response to “phantom threats that they generate themselves”. It said the planned military actions were part of an “anti-Russian and anti-Chinese agenda” by NATO.

“Russia has consistently maintained that the Arctic should remain a territory of peace, dialogue and equal cooperation," the embassy said.

Rasmussen announced the creation of a working group with the Americans to discuss ways to work through differences.

“The group, in our view, should focus on how to address the American security concerns, while at the same time respecting the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark,” he said.

Commenting on the outcome of the Washington meeting on Thursday, Poulsen said the working group was “better than no working group” and “a step in the right direction.” He added nevertheless that the dialogue with the U.S. did not mean “the danger has passed.”

Speaking on Thursday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the American ambition to take over Greenland remains intact despite the Washington meeting, but she welcomed the creation of the working group.

The most important thing for Greenlanders is that they were directly represented at the meeting in the White House and that “the diplomatic dialogue has begun now,” Juno Berthelsen, a lawmaker for the pro-independence Naleraq opposition party, told AP.

A relationship with the U.S. is beneficial for Greenlanders and Americans and is “vital to the security and stability of the Arctic and the Western Alliance,” Berthelsen said. He suggested the U.S. could be involved in the creation of a coastguard for Greenland, providing funding and creating jobs for local people who can help to patrol the Arctic.

Line McGee, 38, from Copenhagen, told AP that she was glad to see some diplomatic progress. “I don’t think the threat has gone away,” she said. “But I feel slightly better than I did yesterday.”

Trump, in his Oval Office meeting with reporters, said: “We’ll see how it all works out. I think something will work out.”

Niemann reported from Copenhagen, Denmark, and Ciobanu from Warsaw, Poland.

Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt speak at a news conference at the Embassy of Denmark, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)

People walk on a street in Nuuk, Greenland, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

From center to right, Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, Denmark's Ambassador Jesper Møller Sørensen, rear, and Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, right, arrive on Capitol Hill to meet with senators from the Arctic Caucus, in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

An Airbus A400M transport aircraft of the German Air Force taxis over the grounds at Wunstorf Air Base in the Hanover region, Germany, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026 as troops from NATO countries, including France and Germany, are arriving in Greenland to boost security. (Moritz Frankenberg/dpa via AP)

Fishermen load fishing lines into a boat in the harbor of Nuuk, Greenland, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Greenland Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt, left, and Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, arrive on Capitol Hill to meet with members of the Senate Arctic Caucus, in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)