House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, left, and Rep. James Clyburn
Republican efforts to rig the 2026 midterm elections by further gerrymandering House districts at the behest of President Donald Trump were dealt two massive blows on Tuesday.
In Alabama, a panel of three federal judges—two of whom were appointed by Trump—blocked the state from using a map that would eliminate one of the state’s two majority-Black districts. The panel ruled that the new map illegally discriminates against Black voters—despite the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that weakened the Voting Rights Act—and that it cannot be used in 2026.
In South Carolina, the state Senate rejected Trump’s demand that the state eliminate its one majority-Black congressional seat, which is held by longtime Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn.
For now, these actions undercut Republican efforts to fight off an impending blue wave this fall.
In Alabama, the three-judge panel wrote in their decision, “Ultimately, we cannot see our way clear to requiring Alabamians to cast their votes in the 2026 elections under a districting plan tainted by intentional race-based discrimination.”
The ruling continued, “And under the unusual circumstances of this case, we conclude that a limited order requiring the Secretary to continue using this Court’s race-blind map will not disrupt Alabama’s elections (all candidates ran under the race-blind map until fifteen days ago, and all voters remain districted under the race-blind map in electoral computer systems).”
Alabama is already appealing the ruling to the Supreme Court, which has regularly helped stack the deck in favor of Trump and his Republican Party. It is entirely possible the nation’s highest court, filled with right-wing hacks, will reinstate Alabama’s racist map.
“[I]n my mind, it is not a matter of whether we win this case, only when,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, a Republican, said in a statement, telegraphing that he expects the partisan court majority to bless his state’s redraw.
At the moment, however, that represents one fewer seat rigged in favor of Republicans as they desperately try to maintain their narrow House majority.
Meanwhile, South Carolina will officially keep its one Black-majority district after a redraw failed by a vote of 20-24 in the state Senate, with 12 Republicans voting against it.
One Republican who voted against it was conservative Sen. Richard Cash, who said his vote was because voting had already begun in the state’s June 9 primary.
“Neither my conscience nor the common sense will allow me to stop an election that is already underway,” Cash said on the Senate floor.
Democrats taunted Republicans after the GOP’s two election-rigging attempts failed.
“Donald Trump and extreme MAGA Republicans have failed the American people. As a result, the GOP has concluded that the only way they can win in November is to cheat,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement. “Today, their desperate power grab hit a wall.”
Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos
- 'Political Death Warrants' For GOP Members In Trump Gerrymandering? ›
- If Not For Swing State's GOP Gerrymander, Democrats Would Control House ›
- As Redistricting Fiasco Unfolds, Raging Republicans Blame Everyone But Trump ›
- California's Redrawn Congressional Map Triggers GOP Hypocrisy ›
- Redistricting race to the bottom ramps up, as GOP eyes more states to draw new House maps ›
- Gerrymandering Explained | Brennan Center for Justice ›
- With green light from Supreme Court, here’s where the GOP can gerrymander before the midterms - Democracy Docket ›
- This year could produce the largest loss of Black political representation ever. Here’s why | CNN Politics ›
- The GOP’s Stunningly Swift Gerrymandering Drive - The Atlantic ›
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