Oct 14, 2025 – The Supreme Court appears poised to strike down key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, opening the door for more aggressive partisan redistricting across states. [5]

2025 – President Donald Trump launches a nationwide redistricting push, urging Republican legislatures to redraw congressional districts before the 2026 midterms to protect the party’s narrow House majority. [5]

Nov 4, 2025 – California voters approve Proposition 50 with 64 % support, mandating new congressional districts drawn by the Democratic‑led legislature for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections and targeting up to five Republican seats. [9][5]

Nov 13, 2025 – The Trump administration files a lawsuit challenging California’s voter‑approved map, alleging it violates the Constitution by using race to favor Hispanic voters. [5]

Dec 4, 2025 – The U.S. Supreme Court issues an unsigned emergency order staying a lower‑court block and allowing Texas to use its newly drawn congressional map for the 2026 elections, citing legislative good faith and the Purcell principle. [2][7][14][21][22]

Dec 4, 2025 – Justice Elena Kagan, writing for the three liberal justices, dissents, warning that the stay “places voters in districts based on race” and violates the Constitution. [15]

Dec 5, 2025 – The Supreme Court formally upholds the Texas map, confirming that the plan could add five Republican‑leaning seats and help preserve the GOP’s slim House majority. [12][13][22]

Dec 11, 2025 – The Indiana State Senate rejects a Republican‑backed congressional map that would have unseated the state’s two Democratic members of Congress, marking a rare intra‑party defeat for the redistricting effort. [5]

Dec 15‑16, 2025 – A three‑judge federal panel in Los Angeles hears a restraining‑order request from the Justice Department and California Republicans, who claim the new map uses race to create Hispanic‑majority districts; the hearing sets a Dec 19 deadline for a decision before candidate filing. [19]

Jan 14, 2026 – A federal three‑judge panel rules 2‑1 to allow California to use its Proposition 50 map in future elections, rejecting Republican and DOJ attempts to block it and noting the map’s partisan intent but not illegal race‑based drawing. [4][18]

Feb 2, 2026 – Democrat Taylor Rehmet defeats Republican Leigh Wambsganss by over 14 percentage points in Texas Senate District 9, flipping a seat Trump carried by 17 points in 2024 and challenging GOP expectations ahead of the 2026 midterms. [10]

Feb 3, 2026 – States across the country accelerate mid‑decade redistricting: Texas’s map adds five GOP seats; California’s voter‑approved map aims to flip five Republican seats; Missouri, North Carolina and Virginia adopt maps that also boost Republican representation, reflecting a nationwide contest sparked by Trump’s 2025 call. [17]

Feb 4, 2026 – The Supreme Court issues an unsigned order clearing California’s new Democratic‑favored congressional map, rejecting a last‑minute challenge from state Republicans and the Trump administration and allowing the map to be used in the 2026 elections; Governor Gavin Newsom says Trump “started this redistricting war” and will “lose again in November.” [1][9][16]

Feb 4, 2026 – The Court notes that a three‑judge California panel previously found the map legal and not race‑based, and Justice Samuel Alito, in a December concurrence, labels both Texas and California maps as “partisan advantage pure and simple.” [3][16]

Feb 4, 2026 – Candidate filing opens on Feb 9, 2026, as the new districts become operative, setting the stage for primary battles under the revised lines. [9]

Feb 5, 2026 – Analysts using 2025 Census data project that the 2030 reapportionment will likely cost California two House seats while adding seats to Sun Belt states, underscoring the strategic importance of the new map. [8]

Feb 5, 2026 – Republican Michael Columbo vows the GOP will “vigorously argue for Equal Protection under the law for all of California’s voters” in ongoing challenges to the map. [8]

Feb 5, 2026 – Donald Trump tells Dan Bongino that Republicans “oughta nationalize” elections and that the federal government should assume control in “at least 15 places,” reflecting his broader redistricting agenda. [8]

Feb 5, 2026 – Steve Bannon proposes placing ICE agents at polling sites, a suggestion rights groups label as voter intimidation. [8]

Feb 5, 2026 – The Supreme Court’s shadow‑docket orders on California and Texas demonstrate an even‑handed application of its limited redistricting rulings rather than siding with any partisan agenda. [8]

Nov 2026 (future) – The regular election for Texas Senate District 9 is scheduled, providing a test of whether the 2026 special‑election upset signals a longer‑term shift. [10]