Democrats Win House Districts Republicans Redrew Ahead of Midterms

Democrats won several House districts that Republicans had redrawn to favor their candidates, dealing a setback to President Donald Trump’s mid-decade redistricting push as his party lost control of Congress.

In Florida, Democrats Kathy Castor, Pia Dandiya and Jared Moskowitz won in redrawn districts, according to Associated Press race calls reported by NPR. Castor held the 14th District, Dandiya won the 22nd as a first-time candidate, and Moskowitz retained the 25th. Al Jazeera reported that Castor’s district swung nearly 16 percentage points toward Democrats compared with its vote in the 2024 presidential election.

A fourth Florida race remained close. Incumbent Democrat Darren Soto held a slim lead over Republican Dan Green in the 9th District as the final votes were counted Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported.

Florida’s Republican-controlled legislature redrew the state’s congressional map in April, and outgoing Governor Ron DeSantis signed it into law in May, according to Al Jazeera. The new boundaries favored Republicans in four districts held by Democrats: the 9th, 14th, 22nd and 25th. Under the revised map, Trump would have carried three of those districts by double-digit margins in 2024 and the fourth by about 9 percentage points, the outlet reported.

Republicans also failed to win some redrawn districts elsewhere. In North Carolina, Democratic Rep. Don Davis held the 1st District after Republicans changed its boundaries to make it more competitive for their party. Trump would have won the district under its new lines by nearly 12 percentage points in 2024, according to the Downballot, as cited by NPR.

In Alabama, Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures retained the redrawn 2nd District, which Trump would have carried by an even larger margin, NPR reported, citing an Associated Press race call. NPR said Alabama Republicans revised the state’s map after the U.S. Supreme Court further weakened the Voting Rights Act earlier this year. Democrats also won some districts redrawn by Republicans in Texas, the first state to redraw its map at Trump’s urging, according to NPR.

Trump urged Republicans last year to redraw congressional boundaries before the midterms, rather than wait for the usual redistricting cycle after a census. The party sought to improve its prospects in the House by changing which voters were grouped into each district. Al Jazeera reported that Republicans had hoped to gain at least 13 seats nationally through the competing map changes, though polling suggested smaller gains.

The strategy relied in part on voters who backed Trump in 2024 continuing to support Republican candidates. In Texas, Republicans built new maps around their gains with Latino voters, NPR reported, but many of those voters shifted toward Democrats this year.

The district results came amid broader Democratic gains. Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, including at least 54 Senate seats, according to Al Jazeera. For Republicans, the returns showed that redrawing a district to favor their party did not guarantee a win.