High-stakes redistricting battles unfold in Texas and California as Republicans and Democrats push new congressional maps ahead of 2026 midterm elections.

The new, partisan maps come on the heels of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s launch of California’s redistricting campaign on Thursday, an effort he touted as meant to favor Democrats in California in the upcoming midterm elections as a counter to similar efforts in Republican-led states elsewhere in the country.

California has an overwhelmingly Democratic delegation in Congress. Gov. Newsom’s plan could give his party five more seats and offset a Texas gerrymander.

California Democrats unveiled a new congressional map that could give them five more seats, countering GOP redistricting in Texas and reshaping House control.

California lawmakers have released a draft map that could reshape congressional district lines across the state. If approved by voters in a special election this November, the new boundaries would take effect before the 2026 midterm elections.

Proposed new congressional maps in California could help Democrats flip five Republican seats and bolster around five Democratic incumbents in toss-up districts.

Gov. Gavin Newsom asked legislators to approve a Nov. 4 special election over the "Election Rigging Response Act," which would give voters a say on whether or not to temprarily change congressional maps.

A partisan move by Texas to redraw its congressional maps in an unusually timed effort to secure five more GOP seats in the U.S. House before the 2026 elections has set off a clamor to replicate the effort in statehouses controlled by both parties.