Forward Majority is spending $30 million on two dozen state legislative races this cycle — betting that eight obscure statehouse contests will determine who draws the congressional maps that shape House control through 2032. The real 2026 election is the one most voters aren't watching.
Louisiana Republicans passed a new congressional map eliminating the majority-Black sixth district drawn under federal court order — shifting the state's delegation to 5-1 Republican and testing how much enforcement power the weakened Voting Rights Act still has.
Virginia's Supreme Court struck down a Democratic redistricting map, erasing four expected House flips before a single ballot is cast. The ruling is the latest in a decade-long Republican project to lock in legislative majorities through courts — not campaigns.
Gerrymandering lets politicians choose their voters instead of the other way around. Here's how the system works, which states are most affected, and what's being done to stop it.