Democrats need a net gain of just five seats to take control of the House next year, so every seat is going to matter. And redistricting fights will be key to shaping the battle lines.
The latest redistricting salvo came Monday in Alabama, where the state filed an “emergency application” to the U.S. Supreme Court to block a lower court’s ruling that the new map discriminated against Black voters, per NBC News’ Lawrence Hurley. The new map was drawn after the Supreme Court tossed out the state’s initial congressional boundaries on similar grounds, and only included one majority-Black district despite the court’s concerns.
Redistricting fights are playing out in other states such as Florida, where state Republicans drew a map favorable to the GOP. Late last week Florida filed an appeal over a court decision tossing out its map, which had eliminated a House seat with a sizable Black population.
Republicans initially appeared poised to potentially benefit from redistricting fights after the North Carolina Supreme Court opened the door to a GOP-led redraw. But the recent rules may have shifted the odds in favor of Democrats.
Politico recently estimated that “a dozen or more seats across at least six states could be redrawn, increasing the likelihood Democrats could chip away the five-seat GOP House majority through redistricting alone.”
In other campaign news…
Ballot drama: As legal battles pop up over whether Trump is eligible for the 2024 ballot, state election officials are staying out of it for now, NBC News’ Nnamdi Egwuonwu and Emma Barnett report.
Biden’s challenge: The New York Times explores how Biden’s campaign is looking to counter concerns about his age by stressing his busy schedule and launching an ad highlighting his trip to Ukraine.
Biden’s false claim: During his 9/11 remarks on Monday, Biden said: “Ground zero in New York — I remember standing there the next day and looking at the building, and I felt like I was looking through the gates of hell — it looked so devastating.” But, per NBC News, on Sept. 12, 2001, the Senate was in session and Biden was in Washington, D.C., where he delivered remarks on the Senate floor.
Trials and tribulations: Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers have filed a motion to dismiss the charges he faces in Georgia’s election interference case, while the judge in his New York hush-money case may be open to changing his trial date there as the former president faces a spate of court cases in the coming year.
Read my lips, no new corporate taxes: The Washington Post reports that Trump’s team is looking at cutting the corporate tax rate, possibly to as low as 15%, if he wins re-election.
Not a fan: California Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee blasted Gov. Gavin Newsom for saying on Sunday’s “Meet the Press” he’d appoint a caretaker to replace Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein if she has to leave office early, arguing the decision is “insulting to countless Black women” because Newsom had pledged to appoint a Black woman to the seat if he had to fill it.
Virginia is for winners: The New York Times looks at how Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin is going all out to try to help Republicans take over the state’s legislature in the fall elections as Democrats lean heavily on a call to protect abortion access.
