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State lawmakers in Texas and California are racing toward adopting new congressional maps this week, after the Texas state House voted Wednesday to advance its mid-decade plan after weeks of Democrats denying Republicans a quorum.
The Texas state Senate is expected to vote on that plan as soon as Thursday. In California, state lawmakers could also move forward as soon as Thursday with their own redistricting plan, which would involve passing legislation as well as a ballot initiative this fall, as Roll Call’s Michael Macagnone reports.
The focus on redistricting is set to move next to Ohio, where Republicans will hold major sway over a new map for 2026 that has been long expected.
“The path to winning back the U.S. Congress certainly goes through Ohio,” Kathleen Clyde, the chair of the Ohio Democratic Party, said on a Thursday press call.
Clyde said that “all options are on the table” for how Ohio Democrats will fight for fair maps throughout the upcoming process.
It remains to be seen whether other states, like Indiana, will seek to enact a new map ahead of next year’s elections. Republicans in Indiana’s congressional delegation have all called on state lawmakers to draw a new map ahead of the midterms, although Gov. Mike Braun and other key state Republicans so far appear more circumspect about whether to call a special session.
If more Republican-controlled states do move forward with efforts to redraw their maps, that could give the GOP an advantage in what’s expected to be a fierce fight for the House majority next year. Democrat-led states could continue to try to match GOP efforts, but those states could be hamstrung by their own redistricting laws.
The redistricting fight comes as Republicans seek to sell the tax and spending law they passed earlier this summer. Vice President JD Vance is traveling to Georgia on Thursday in an effort to sell the Republicans’ tax cuts to voters.
Starting gate
Texas forever: Chip Roy, a hard-right House Freedom Caucus member and frequent thorn in the side of GOP leadership, is entering the Republican primary to replace Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running for U.S. Senate against longtime Republican Sen. John Cornyn. In a campaign launch video Thursday, Roy tied his candidacy to his support for President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, Roll Call’s Victor Feldman reports.
Mail-in maneuvers: President Donald Trump on Monday said he had a team of elite lawyers crafting an executive order to “end” the use of mail-in ballots. But a day later, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said administration officials would instead talk to lawmakers about the issue when the House and Senate return next month, as well as “our friends in the state legislatures.”
Brown runs again: Former Sen. Sherrod Brown is officially running again, seeking to unseat appointed Republican Sen. Jon Husted in Ohio. His campaign reported that he raised $3.6 million during his first day in the race.
Comeback campaign: Former Rep. Jerry Carl is seeking to win back his old seat in Alabama’s 1st District. Carl lost a Republican primary to Rep. Barry Moore last year after redistricting placed them in the same district, but the seat will be open next year with Moore running for Senate.
ICYMI
#MESEN: Graham Platner, an oyster farmer and Army and Marine Corps veteran, announced a challenge to Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Platner joins former House chief of staff Jordan Wood in the Democratic primary, with Gov. Janet Mills still undecided on whether to make it a three-way race for the nomination. Collins, meanwhile, is set to visit Los Angeles next month for a fundraiser co-hosted by two Democrats and two Republicans.
Comings and goings, Hawkeye edition: Democratic state representative and Presbyterian chaplain Lindsay James kicked off her campaign in Iowa’s 2nd District, which is currently held by Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson. Meanwhile, the Democratic race to unseat Republican Sen. Joni Ernst got a little less crowded when baseball player J.D. Scholten dropped his bid and endorsed fellow state Rep. Josh Turek for the seat.
If/then: Democrat Audrey Denney will run for Congress against Republican Doug LaMalfa if the proposed California redistricting map is approved by voters in November. “With this map, my home in Chico is now in a district that Democrats can win,” said Denney, who made unsuccessful runs for Congress in 2018 and 2020. “And if Californians vote for the map, I plan to run to replace Rep. Doug LaMalfa and take on this administration in 2026.”
#CA40: Immigration lawyer Lisa Ramirez is the latest Democrat to join the field of candidates seeking to unseat Republican Young Kim in what has been a Southern California battleground district in recent cycles. Ramirez served as the lead attorney representing the father of three U.S. Marines wrongfully detained by immigration authorities.
#TXSEN: The American Israel Political Action Committee, or AIPAC, and the Republican Jewish Coalition are backing Cornyn as he fends off the primary challenge from Paxton in Texas. And the latest poll from Texas Southern University shows the incumbent narrowing the gap.
#AZGOV: Arizona Rep. David Schweikert is considering a run for governor, which would open up the race for the Republican’s battleground 1st District seat. Trump has already endorsed two Republicans for the nomination: Rep. Andy Biggs and attorney Karrin Taylor Robinson. The president and GOP leader also has made efforts to deter other Republicans in battleground seats to run for reelection rather than make gubernatorial bids.
Sununu takes flight: Senate Republicans wanted New Hampshire’s former GOP Gov. Chris Sununu to run for Senate, but he declined. Instead, he’s taking over as CEO of the airline trade association known as Airlines for America, starting next month.
What we’re reading
Watching the Latino vote: The 2025 New Jersey governor’s race could prove an early barometer of whether gains that Trump made with Latino voters last year will continue for other Republican candidates, ATR alumna Bridget Bowman of NBC News reports.
Corporate silence: Trump has upended the traditional Republican principle that small government is best, but CNN found that the business community has largely remained quiet about his aggressive attempts at government overreach.
Peach Tree State brawl: The battle between the Republicans seeking to unseat Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in Georgia is getting messy, The Hill reports.
Geriatric recruits: Democrats have had some success recruiting top-tier contenders for key Senate races. But The Atlantic found a common denominator: Several of those big names are approaching, or are over, 70 years old.
Redistricting lessons: States currently heading down the path of partisan gerrymandering might want to study what happened in Oregon in 2021. The Democratically controlled legislature redrew one district specifically to elect a Democrat. But the effort backfired and a Republican won the seat the following year, the Oregon Capital Chronicle noted.
Shifting politics: As governor of North Carolina, Democrat Roy Cooper made national headlines in 2016 for his support of transgender rights. But now, as a candidate for Senate, Cooper has shied away from the issue, according to The Washington Post.
Hitting the books: NOTUS looked at personal income members of the House and Senate brought in from book-writing. Some, such as Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, earned more than $170,000 in royalties and advances last year. But others, such as Sens. Ted Cruz, Christopher S. Murphy and Angus King, reported earning no royalties in 2024.
Party registration: Democrats face a voter registration crisis, The New York Times reports. Last year, more new voters nationwide registered as Republicans than Democrats for the first time since 2018.
The count: 37 years
That’s how long it’s been since an unseated senator was able to regain that seat in the next general election.
With his announcement this week that he’d be seeking the Ohio Senate seat vacated when JD Vance resigned to become vice president, Brown, who lost his bid for a fourth term in the state’s other seat last year, is hoping to reset that counter.
The last time it happened was in 1988, when Washington Republican Slade Gorton was able to start his second term two years after his first had ended with an unsuccessful reelection bid in 1986. Gordon went on to serve two more terms before losing yet another reelection campaign in 2000, this time to Democrat Maria Cantwell, who has held the seat since.
— By Roll Call’s Ryan Kelly
Coming up
The latest sign that Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., may be eyeing a 2028 presidential run is a Friday trip to New Hampshire for a full day of political activities, starting with an appearance at Politics and Eggs at St. Anselm College in Manchester. He’s also scheduled to appear with Rep. Chris Pappas, the Democratic front-runner for Senate, for a private event and Rep. Maggie Goodlander for a town hall later in the day.
Photo finish
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The post At the Races: Maps mania appeared first on Roll Call.
