Republican Gerrymanders Backfire as Missouri Voters Reject Trump-Backed Map and Texas Gains Vanish
Republican efforts to redraw congressional maps ahead of the midterms largely backfired Tuesday, as Missouri voters rejected a Trump-backed map and Democrats won most of the GOP’s target seats in Texas and Florida.
Voters delivered “a double dose of disapproval” to President Donald Trump’s redistricting push, the Associated Press reported. Nine states used new congressional districts this year after the rare mid-decade redraws Trump encouraged.
In Missouri, the AP called Proposition A for the “no” side Tuesday night, the Kansas City Star reported. With all precincts reporting, “no” led 1,273,815 to 785,969, or about 62% to 38%, according to unofficial results.
The map would have split Kansas City into three GOP-leaning districts to help Republicans defeat Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver. Opponents gathered more than 305,000 signatures to force the referendum.
Courts had required the state to use its 2022 map unless voters approved the new one. Cleaver won a 12th term, leading Republican state Sen. Rick Brattin 69.5% to 28.1% with 99% of precincts reporting, KCUR reported.
Texas Map Falls Short
Texas was the first state to redraw at Trump’s urging, turning five Democratic-held districts into seats Trump would have carried by at least 10 points. Republicans won only one of those five and lost two of their own, the Texas Tribune reported.
Republicans had hoped for a 30-8 split in the delegation. Instead they are on track for 24-14, one fewer GOP seat than they held at the start of the current Congress.
Tejano musician Bobby Pulido ousted Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz in the Rio Grande Valley. Democrat Katy Padilla Stout beat Republican Brandon Herrera in the open 23rd District, which leans 15 points toward Trump.
Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez also survived redraws that added Trump voters to their districts. The map counted on Latino voters sticking with the GOP, but many shifted to Democrats this year.
In Florida, Democrats Kathy Castor, Jared Moskowitz and Pia Dandiya won seats Gov. Ron DeSantis had redrawn to favor Republicans, according to AP race calls cited by NPR. Trump carried all four redrawn seats in 2024, the Daily Caller noted.
The fourth Florida seat is uncalled. Democratic Rep. Darren Soto led Republican Dan Green by 1,477 votes, about 0.6%, with 99% of the vote counted, and the AP called it too close to call, Central Florida Public Media reported.
A recount would be triggered automatically if the margin falls below 0.5%.
Democratic Reps. Don Davis of North Carolina and Shomari Figures of Alabama also held seats Republicans redrew to favor the GOP, NPR reported. The AP called the Figures race.
Democrats fought back with maps of their own. In California, they had won three of their five target seats and led in the other two as of early Wednesday, according to the Texas Tribune.
Maryland voters also approved an amendment that could clear the way for new congressional districts in 2028, the AP reported. Democratic supporters, backed by former President Barack Obama, had pitched it as a way to “stop Trump.”
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