Redistricting: What’s Happening and How Should I Prepare?

Redistricting is the process of redrawing voting district boundaries, usually after the Census, to ensure equal population.

It can also shift political power and representation.

Right now, redistricting fights are reshaping the political map mid-decade. Most recently in Texas, new maps projected to add Republican-leaning seats face lawsuits from civil rights groups who argue they dilute minority representation. In California, a proposed ballot measure would suspend the state’s independent redistricting process and counter the Texas action by adding seats to CA. In Utah, a court struck down their congressional map as an unlawful gerrymander but could impact the balance of power eventually with a competitive Salt-Lake based seat.

These developments highlight a growing trend of mid-cycle redistricting, with major implications for voting rights, representation, and the ability of women leaders—especially women of color—to effectively serve their communities.

General Trends Warning: Women’s Representation at Risk

Redistricting cycles have historically slowed or reversed progress for women in elected office. After both the 2010 and 2020 redistricting cycles, women’s representation dipped or stalled, particularly for women of color, due to gerrymandering that displaced newer incumbents or fractured diverse communities of interest.

While numbers eventually recovered, these disruptions weakened the leadership pipeline, cost us some hard-fought wins while forcing us to wage costly fights for new ones. The disruptions make it harder for women to advance to higher office.

• Volatility Hurts Incumbents: Redistricting almost always destabilizes incumbency. Since women (especially women of color) are newer to office on average and hold fewer “safe seats,” they are more vulnerable when districts are redrawn. This can mean being “double-bunked” (placed into the same district with another incumbent) or shifted into less favorable electorates.

• Shrinkage in Representation: Multiple studies have shown that after aggressive partisan gerrymanders, women’s representation often shrinks or stalls. For example, a Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) analysis found that mid-decade redistricting efforts in the South and Midwest disproportionately displaced women legislators.

Intersection of Race & Gender

• Women of Color Most Affected: Because women of color disproportionately represent racially diverse or coalition districts, racial gerrymanders that dilute Black, Latino, or Asian voting strength also undercut women of color in office. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund has flagged this in challenges, noting that redistricting often reduces opportunities for these leaders to win reelection.

• Community Ties Weakened: Women legislators are more likely than men to come from grassroots community organizing backgrounds rather than political machines. When maps are redrawn, those community bases are often fragmented, undermining their electoral security.

Partisan Dimensions

• Democratic vs. Republican Women: Democratic women are more at risk because they tend to represent diverse, urban, or suburban districts—prime targets for partisan redrawing by Republican-controlled legislatures. Republican women are fewer in number, but also sometimes squeezed out in conservative strongholds when partisan maps prioritize male incumbents.

• Independent/Commission Models: States with independent or bipartisan redistricting commissions (e.g., Arizona, California) tend to preserve or expand women’s representation, because the process is less about protecting incumbents and more about maintaining communities of interest.

Longer-Term Impact

• Pipeline Disruption: When women lose seats during redistricting cycles, it has ripple effects on the pipeline for higher office. Fewer women in state legislatures and Congress means fewer candidates positioned for statewide or federal leadership.

• “Two Steps Forward, One Step Back”: Historically, women’s representation tends to grow steadily between census years, then dip or stall during redistricting fights—requiring multiple cycles to recover.

How to get ready for redistricting

Quick Prep Checklist

• Audit your district profile now

  Know your demographics, turnout history, and base strength before any lines shift.

• Expand digital + grassroots networks

  Build relationships beyond your district to be ready if maps change.

• Strengthen online fundraising

  As you saw from TX, this is a nationalized fight fast. Prepare small-dollar donor systems that can activate quickly.  This could be as simple as ensuring that your website and ‘Donate’ button are easy to navigate.

• Stay engaged in the process and communicate

  DON’T SIT OUT. If redistricting committees form, get on them and advocate for yourself.  Get on TV, the press and on social. Be your own knowledgeable voice that’s bringing people along.

Redistricting is often messy, political, and high stakes—but it directly shapes who you represent and whether you can hold your seat. Women, especially women of color, have historically lost ground when they step back and let others control the process. Stay at the table: your voice and presence in redistricting fights are essential to protecting both your community and your leadership.