Where US Redistricting Stands 05/27 06:51

   

   (AP) -- A frenzied redistricting effort ahead of the November elections has 
reshaped congressional voting districts for millions of Americans -- and it 
isn't over yet.

   Since President Donald Trump urged Texas Republicans to redraw U.S. House 
districts last year, Republicans in Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida and 
Tennessee also have enacted new maps that could help the party win additional 
seats in the midterm elections. Louisiana is expected to join those ranks soon, 
and Alabama Republicans are appealing a court decision blocking a map they 
support.

   So far, Republicans think they could gain as many as 14 seats from their 
redistricting efforts while Democrats think they could gain six seats from new 
districts in California and Utah.

   Trump hopes the unusual mid-decade redistricting can help Republicans retain 
control of the closely divided House, despite negative approval ratings and 
historical tendencies for the incumbent's party to lose seats in the midterms.

   Here's a look at the latest developments in the redistricting battle:

   Louisiana House to vote on redistricting

   The U.S. Supreme Court in April struck down Louisiana's congressional map, 
which contains two majority-Black districts held by Democrats, as an illegal 
racial gerrymander. That prompted Republican Gov. Jeff Landry to postpone 
Louisiana's May 16 congressional primary until later this summer to allow time 
for redistricting.

   The state House is expected to consider a revised congressional map this 
week that gives Republicans an improved chance at winning one of those two 
seats. The Senate already passed a different version of the new map. The two 
chambers are trying to agree on a redistricting plan before the June 1 end of 
their legislative session.

   Alabama is appealing a court order

   Republican Attorney General Steve Marshall said he is appealing a 
preliminary injunction issued Tuesday by a federal judicial panel that prevents 
the state from using a Republican-drawn House map in the midterm elections.

   The judges said the plan, which includes only one majority-Black district, 
"intentionally discriminated based on race." They ordered the state to continue 
using a court-imposed map containing two districts where Black residents 
compose a majority or close to it. Both of those seats currently are held by 
Democrats.

   A Missouri court is hearing objections

   The Missouri Supreme Court already has rejected two challenges to a new U.S. 
House map that gives Republicans an improved chance to win another seat by 
reshaping a Democratic-held district based in Kansas City.

   Judges are to hear arguments Wednesday in a third challenge claiming that no 
extraordinary circumstances existed for Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe to call 
lawmakers into a special session on redistricting last year.

   South Carolina pulls the plug on redistricting

   As early in-person voting began Tuesday in South Carolina's June 9 
primaries, the Republican-led state Senate put an end to an effort to redraw 
the state's congressional districts this year. A plan previously passed by the 
House sought to redraw the state's only Democratic-held district to give 
Republicans a better chance at winning it.

   But some Republicans senators said it was too late to make make any changes. 
Others expressed reservations that the plan could backfire by adding in too 
many Democratic voters in districts held by Republicans.

   Florida judge lets GOP map stand

   Voting rights groups contend Florida's new congressional districts should be 
struck down for violating a state ban on intentional partisan gerrymandering. 
But a state judge on Tuesday declined to issue a preliminary injunction against 
using the map in the midterm elections.

   The judge said the plaintiffs hadn't shown their claims of partisanship are 
likely to succeed. Voting rights groups said they were quickly appealing the 
case to a higher court, and would continue pursuing the case all the way to the 
state Supreme Court, if necessary.

   Tennessee map faces several challenges

   A federal court on Tuesday declined to issue a temporary restraining order 
in a lawsuit contending that Tennessee's new U.S. House districts are racially 
discriminatory. The new Republican-drawn map carves up a majority-Black 
district in Memphis -- a city where more than half of its population is Black 
-- giving Republicans an improved chance to win the state's only 
Democratic-held seat.

   The case is one of several brought against the map that are making their way 
through the court system.