Redistrict

January 2018 that the U.S. House districts enacted in 2011 by a Republican governor and GOP-led Legislature were an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander favoring Republicans. The court in February imposed new district boundaries, which were used in the November elections. Under the GOP-drawn maps, Republicans held a 13-5 majority over Democrats in Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation for three straight elections, despite Democrats having more registered voters. Under the new map, Democrats and Republicans

each won nine congressional seats in last November’s elections.

TEXAS

Partisan breakdown: U.S. House: 23 Republicans, 13 Democrats. State House: 83 Republicans, 67 Democrats.

The claim: Racial gerrymandering.

The case: U.S. and state House maps enacted in 2011 by the Republican governor and GOP-led Legislature were tossed out in 2012 by a federal court, which produced new interim maps. Those maps were permanently adopted by the Legislature and governor in 2013. But in 2017, the federal court ruled that some districts were racially gerrymandered

to weaken the electoral power of growing minority populations. The U.S. Supreme Court largely overturned that decision last June, striking down only one state House district in Fort Worth. A lower court has deferred redrawing that district to allow time for the Legislature to do so during the 2019 session.

VIRGINIA

Partisan breakdown: State House: 51 Republicans, 49 Democrats.

The claim: Racial gerrymandering.

The case: A federal judicial panel ruled last June that 11 state House districts were unconstitutional racial

gerrymanders, finding that lawmakers in 2011 had packed black voters into certain districts so that surrounding ones would have more white and Republican voters. In December, a court-appointed expert submitted potential revisions affecting between 21 and 26 districts. A court hearing on those recommendations was held Thursday. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal of the case some time in 2019. Virginia’s legislative primaries are scheduled for June 11.

In a previous case, a federal court in January 2016 redrew congressional districts after ruling that black voters had been illegally packed into a particular

district to diminish their voting strength elsewhere. Republicans, who previously held an 8-3 majority in Virginia’s congressional delegation, dropped to a 7-4 majority after the 2016 elections. Democrats also won a 7-4 majority in the 2018 elections.

WISCONSIN

Partisan breakdown: State Assembly: 63 Republicans, 36 Democrats.

The claim: Partisan gerrymandering.

The case: A new federal trial is set to begin April 23 on a partisan gerrymandering lawsuit involving the state Assembly. The U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned a November 2016

lower court ruling that had struck down Wisconsin’s state Assembly districts as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. The lower court had said the map adopted in 2011 by the Republican-led Legislature and Republican governor violated Democratic voters’ rights to representation by packing Democrats into some districts and spreading them among others, thus diluting their voting power.

The U.S. Supreme Court said plaintiffs failed to prove they had the right to sue on a statewide basis. It sent the case back to the lower court for plaintiffs to attempt to prove that their personal voting rights were infringed by the way particular districts were drawn.