Gerrymandering Trump's constituency tactics backfire - the cat's meow is huge
Donald Trump is trying to manipulate next year's midterm elections by redrawing the boundaries of constituencies in states such as Texas. The Democrats in Texas have therefore followed suit. Now a court has banned Texas from doing so - the cat's meow is huge.
21.11.2025, 04:30
21.11.2025, 09:06
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- Gerrymandering is the unfair redrawing of constituencies to manipulate elections.
- After the Republicans in Texas redrew constituencies six years too early, the Democrats in California followed suit.
- Now a court in Texas has banned redistricting, while the case in California continues. The Republicans are crying foul.
US President Donald Trump's Republicans have suffered a setback for the time being with their planned redrawing of electoral districts to improve their starting position in important congressional elections.
A federal court issued a temporary injunction prohibiting the US state of Texas from using a redistricting decided in the summer as the basis for next year's midterms. This is when new members of the US parliament are to be elected. The decision can still be appealed.
The judges justified their decision by stating that the new constituency allocation discriminates against certain population groups and is therefore racially motivated. Instead, the members of parliament who are then to represent Texas must be elected in November 2026 based on the 2021 electoral district boundaries.
Republicans wanted up to five additional seats
At the end of August, Texas Governor Greg Abbott - a Republican - signed a law to this effect. With the redistricting, Trump's party hoped to gain up to five additional seats in the House of Representatives.
The Republicans currently have majorities in both chambers of the US Congress - the Senate and the House of Representatives. However, these are only narrow. In November 2026, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives will be up for grabs, as will some of the seats in the Senate.
In gerrymandering, the boundaries are drawn in such a way that one party pools as many of its own votes as possible and splinters those of the other party - see also the video at the top.
Potential own goal
This allows it to win more seats, even if it does not receive more votes overall. Normally, constituencies are redrawn every ten years on the basis of the census. In addition to Texas, new maps were also decided in North Carolina and Missouri.
The Republicans may have scored a goal of their own with this procedure, which was initiated by Donald Trump. The reason for this is that the Democrats have drawn level in California due to their actions in Texas. However, voters there were asked whether they approved of the redistricting to compensate for the change in Texas.
Proposition 50 was approved at the ballot box. As a result, the Department of Justice sued California Governor Gavin Newsom. The Republicans in Texas also took the matter to court. However, the fact that gerrymandering has now been banned in Texas is unlikely to have any impact on California.
"I don't think there are many reasons why a lawsuit against Proposition 50 would be successful," says Justin Levitt from Loyola Law School on ABC. California Republicans are now beating the drum against the new voting districts: When Texas announced its gerrymandering, they remained silent in contrast.
