Friday, April 3

We finally got the big Missouri redistricting ruling we were waiting for late last week, and it was not good news for voters. A judge ruled that the new GOP gerrymander is now in effect for the 2026 midterm elections, despite the hard work of Missourians trying to put the map to a statewide referendum. The ruling has been appealed, but there’s no question this was a tough setback not just for the redistricting fight, but also for Missourians’ right to direct democracy.

And now that it’s April, we’re getting closer to a high-stakes redistricting showdown later this month in Virginia and Florida.

As always, thanks for reading.

Jen Rice, Reporter

The state of redistricting across the nation

Here’s where the redistricting math stands today. Republicans have potentially gained seven more seats in Congress — five in Texas, one in Missouri and one in North Carolina. They could add two to five more seats to their tally after Florida takes up redistricting in a special session this month. Meanwhile, Democrats have potentially gained a total of six seats — five in California and one in Utah. They could be up by four more seats in Virginia if voters greenlight a redistricting referendum this month and if Democrats’ plan holds up in court.

GOP derails bid to stop Missouri gerrymander for 2026

As Democracy Docket readers know, Missourians have been fighting an increasingly absurd battle for over six months to put Republicans’ newest congressional gerrymander to a referendum vote. They turned in more than 300,000 signatures, and officials have verified enough signatures for the referendum to qualify for the ballot.

And yet, one week ago, a state judge ruled that Missouri can use the new map in the 2026 midterms before voters are even given a chance to weigh in on the plan, blatantly sidestepping Missourians’ right under the state constitution to veto laws approved by the legislature.

The ruling has been appealed. And People Not Politicians, the group leading the referendum effort, says the fight is “far from over.”

But while the legal challenges surrounding the referendum will continue to play out, there’s a dwindling amount of time left before Missouri holds its primaries Aug. 4. Which may have been the GOP strategy all along: run out the clock until the gerrymander is a fait accompli.

More than 619,000 votes cast so far in redistricting referendum

Virginia voters have already cast more than 619,000 early votes in the redistricting referendum election, with election day coming up April 21.

And Democrats are warning that turnout needs to stay high.

“We still have three weeks to go,” Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) told Punchbowl News this week. “To think, ‘It’s in the bag,’ would be a fatal mistake. We have to close very strong.”

Democrats are certainly putting their money where their mouth is. Virginians for Fair Elections, the PAC powering the pro-redistricting drive, has raked in more than $32 million, a staggering sum that mostly comes from the House Majority Forward super PAC.

Virginians for Fair Maps, a GOP-aligned PAC, has reported raising far less, just around $8 million. But a group linked to tech billionaire Peter Thiel recently waded into the fight, contributing $2.5 million to the PAC behind controversial GOP mailers targeting Black voters.

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GOP redistricting special session kicks off April 20

More than half of Floridians are saying it’s a bad idea for Republicans to take up mid-decade redistricting in the Sunshine State, according to new polling from Emerson College.

It’s also against the law — Florida voters passed a ban on partisan and racial gerrymandering in 2010. But the justices of the Florida Supreme Court, most of whom were appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), have made it no secret that they don’t consider the ban to be a barrier to the governor’s gerrymandering agenda.

DeSantis has ordered a four-day redistricting special session beginning April 20.

That doesn’t mean his fellow Republicans are on board with the plan. As one GOP member of Congress told a Florida news channel this week: “DeSantis doesn’t care about us having a majority — DeSantis cares about DeSantis… It’s about his 2028 campaign.”

Odds and ends

This week, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) declined former Gov. George Allen’s (R) request to hold a debate on the redistricting referendum.
The League of Women Voters of Ohio is warning voters to be ready for changes at the ballot box after the state enacted new congressional maps last fall.
A panel of three Wisconsin judges dismissed a pro-voting lawsuit challenging the state’s congressional map as an excessive partisan gerrymander that discriminates against Democrats, saying only the Wisconsin Supreme Court may weigh in.

What we’re doing

Team members were proud to join thousands of protesters this weekend (including many Democracy Docket readers 👋) for the latest round of No Kings demonstrations. News editor Matthew Kupfer and his wife Lina attended the march from Arlington, Virginia to the Washington Monument in D.C. — for those wondering, her sign said "Down with the Czar" in Russian, an early 20th century slogan. And managing editor Zachary Roth attended the protest in Hastings-on-Hudson in Westchester County, NY with his kids and some of their friends, marching with around 500 people from Hastings to join up with a separate protest that started in Yonkers. He reports that he was wearing a Democracy Docket hoodie and one protester said: "Democracy Docket! That's a great organization.” (We agree!)