In the high-stakes battle over congressional redistricting, President Donald Trump suffered a stinging setback this week, days after the Supreme Court handed him a major victory.

After months of arm-twisting by the president, top allies and aligned groups, the GOP-dominated Indiana Senate on Thursday voted down a new map championed by Trump that would have created two more right-leaning congressional districts in the solidly red Midwestern state, where Republicans control seven of Indiana’s nine U.S. House seats. 

The showdown in Indiana came a week after the Supreme Court cleared the way for Republican-dominated Texas to use its newly redrawn map, which creates five more right-leaning House seats.

Indiana was the latest battleground in Trump’s aggressive national campaign to reshape congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterms, when Republicans, as the party in power, will likely face traditional political headwinds as they defend their razor-thin House majority.

STUNNING SETBACK FOR TRUMP IN REDISTRICTING WARS

By championing rare but not unheard-of mid-decade redistricting, Trump is aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterm elections.

Democrats are pushing back, as they hope to negate the push by the president and his allies.

BIG WIN FOR TRUMP AS SUPREME COURT GREENLIGHTS TEXAS’ NEW CONGRESSIONAL MAP

Here’s a look at where things stand, and what’s next in the fierce fight over redrawing the maps.

Current balance of power

Republicans currently hold a 220-213 majority in the House, with two Democratic-held seats vacant.

But the number of GOP lawmakers in the chamber will drop to 219 early next month when Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a MAGA firebrand who had a falling out with the president, leaves.

A special election will be held on Jan. 31 to fill the seat left vacant when Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner of Texas died last March.

And a special election will be held on April 16 to fill the seat left vacant when Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill resigned last month after being elected New Jersey governor.

As of now, the Democrats need a net gain of three seats to win back the House majority in next year’s midterms.

Where things stand in redistricting wars

Six states have new congressional maps: California, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas, Ohio and Utah.

The Republican pickup of five seats in Texas is canceled out by the drawing of five more left-leaning seats in Democratic-dominated California.

HOUSE GOP CAMPAIGN CHAIR WANTS TRUMP ‘OUT THERE ON THE TRAIL’ IN MIDTERM BATTLE FOR MAJORITY

The GOP gains two more right-leaning seats in Ohio, and one each in Missouri and North Carolina. But a Utah district judge last month rejected a congressional district map drawn up by the state’s GOP-dominated legislature and instead approved an alternate that will create a Democratic-leaning district ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Do the math, and Republicans theoretically have a three-seat advantage right now in the redistricting wars.

But that’s far from written in stone.

Democratic opponents of redistricting in Missouri submitted thousands of petition signatures calling for a statewide referendum vote on the state’s new maps, which could put the GOP redistricting in jeopardy.

In Utah, Republicans are hoping an appeal will overturn the court-ordered map.

It’s far from certain that Democrats will sweep all five newly drawn left-leaning districts in California and that Republicans will do likewise in Texas. And Democrats in Ohio are confident they can still make a play for the two newly drawn districts that tilt further to the right.

What’s next

Republicans are looking to GOP-controlled Florida, where early redistricting moves are underway in Tallahassee. A new map could possibly produce up to five more right-leaning seats. But conservative Gov. Ron DeSantis and GOP legislative leaders don’t see eye-to-eye on how to move forward.

Democrats have their eyes on Virginia, where the Democratic Party holds majorities in both chambers of the legislature. A new map in the Commonwealth could produce up to four more left-leaning districts.

Other states that might step into the redistricting wars — Democratic-dominated Illinois and Maryland, and two red states with Democratic governors, Kentucky and Kansas.

The wildcard

Hovering over the redistricting wars is the Supreme Court, which is expected to rule in Louisiana v. Callais, a crucial case which may lead to the overturning of a key provision in the Voting Rights Act.

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If the ruling goes the way of the conservatives on the high court, it could lead to the redrawing of a slew of majority-minority districts across the county, which would greatly favor Republicans.

But it is very much up in the air — when the court will rule, and what it will actually do.

FIRST ON FOX: Texas Senate candidate Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, challenged House colleague Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, to a debate after Crockett entered the race earlier this week. 

Hunt, who faces incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a competitive Republican primary, was quick to challenge Crockett to a debate, saying that if the new contender agreed it would be “must-see TV.”

“Jasmine Crockett and I see two different Americas. She defines this country by victimhood. I define it by hard work, grit, and determination,” Hunt told Fox News Digital.

Sources close to the campaign told Fox News Digital that Crockett approached Hunt on Capitol Hill to discuss a potential debate. Hunt’s campaign team confirmed to Fox News Digital that this is the first conversation the two have ever had. 

“A Hunt vs. Crockett debate is must-see TV, and I welcome it,” Hunt added.

JASMINE CROCKETT SAYS SHE DOESN’T NEED TO CONVERT TRUMP SUPPORTERS IN HER TEXAS SENATE BID

Should Crockett or Hunt be elected to the Senate seat, it would be the first time a Black American has been elected to a state-wide office in the Lone Star State. The Texas Republican pointed this out, telling Fox that he cares more about being an American than he does a Black man.

“I’m the great-great-grandson of a slave,” Hunt told Fox. “Our family story is one of going from a plantation to West Point, combat, and the United States Congress. That’s the story of American progress.

“I’m proud to be Black, but I’m prouder to be an American, and a native Texan,” Hunt added. “I’m far more focused on being a father, a husband, a veteran, a servant leader, and a citizen than my skin color.”

QUIET GOP ‘ASTROTURF’ CAMPAIGN CONVINCED LIBERAL FIREBRAND TO RUN FOR US SENATE, SOURCE SAYS

Crockett joining the field presents a unique situation for what has traditionally been a deep red state. Her congressional district encompasses a large portion of the Dallas metropolitan area, and her youthful energy and large social media presence differ from other Democratic contenders in the past. 

Hunt also boasts a large social media presence, with his team telling Fox that they have over 4.1 million followers across multiple platforms, including Instagram, X, Truth Social and others. 

Crockett has 2.5 million followers on Instagram and roughly 500,000 on X.

SPEAKER JOHNSON LAUGHS OFF JASMINE CROCKETT SENATE BID: ‘ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTED’ SHE IS RUNNING 

The pair’s influencer-style approach to politics proved successful in winning their respective congressional seats, but securing victory over the Senate spot will be a challenge for both. 

Crockett’s ambition to flip the traditionally red state to the Democrats will be quite the uphill battle. Senator Tim Sott, R-S.C., who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said Democrats getting behind Crockett indicated the party has been “overrun” by a far-left agenda. 

“I think it says something about who the Democrats are nationally, not just in Texas,” Scott told Fox News Digital earlier this week. “What it says is that they’ve been overrun by this radical left agenda that focuses on rhetoric, not reality.”

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Election day for the Texas primary is Mar. 3, 2026 and the general election is Nov. 3, 2026. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Crockett, but did not receive a response.

Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston

The 2020 election ended six years ago. Yet, two power-hungry Democrat attorneys general up for re-election next year, Kris Mayes of Arizona and Josh Kaul of Wisconsin, persist in their lawfare against Trump supporters who lawfully challenged the election. These disgraceful cases must end immediately.

President Trump and many supporters found numerous discrepancies with the 2020 election. They challenged the results in several closely-contested states. The First Amendment and the Electoral Count Act of 1887 permitted such challenges — just like Democrats challenged Republican presidential wins in 1968, 2000, 2004 and 2016. Leftists maliciously alleged that the challengers submitted “fake electors” as part of the effort to overturn certified results in these states.

This is utter nonsense. No one was duped by the intent of these alternate electors. Rudy Giuliani didn’t have the “real” electors tied up in his trunk while sending in the “fake” electors.

The slates of electors submitted were alternate electors in the event that, on Jan. 6, 2021, Congress sustained objections to the certification of electors in the contested states.

SOCIAL MEDIA ERUPTS AS RESURFACED AG JAMES POSTS COME BACK TO HAUNT HER: ‘NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW’

In 2022, Democrat Mayes defeated Republican Abraham Hamadeh by less than 300 votes to become attorney general of Arizona. She immediately started pursuing illegal lawfare against Trump supporters. Mark Brnovich, the previous attorney general, took no action against those who had disputed the 2020 election, because he recognized that they had committed no crimes. Mayes didn’t care and sought indictments against the eleven Arizona alternate electors and seven other defendants, including Mike Roman, President Trump’s campaign head of operations on election day.

A Maricopa County trial court correctly threw out the indictment and ordered Mayes to seek a new one. Mayes had not provided the grand jury with the full text of the Electoral Count Act, a complicated and arcane statute that has direct bearing on the case. If the statute permitted the defendants’ actions, the state cannot sustain its case. Federal election law preempts state law with respect to federal elections. The statute was so complex that Congress amended it a few years ago through the Electoral Count Reform Act.

Mayes scurried to the Arizona Court of Appeals. That court wisely declined to hear her appeal. Now, she has petitioned the Arizona Supreme Court for review. The justices should follow the sage lead of the appellate court and decline to hear Mayes’ appeal.

JONATHAN TURLEY: FANI WILLIS’ CASE AGAINST TRUMP COLLAPSES UNDER ITS OWN INSANITY

Mayes is the same prosecutor who threatened to investigate President Trump for a supposed death threat against former Rep. Liz Cheney — a Trump-deranged RINO — during a campaign rally in Phoenix. Trump, of course, made no such threat, and Mayes abandoned her stunt shortly after the president’s resounding victory last November.

Wisconsin also suffers from a partisan Democrat attorney general seeking re-election. In 2024, nearly four years after the conclusion of the 2020 election, Kaul, a radical leftist like Mayes, obtained indictments against three defendants, including Roman and two of Trump’s attorneys.

The facts were the same as in Arizona, except that Kaul did not charge the 10 Wisconsin alternate electors. The defendants are now facing a preliminary hearing in Dane County, a leftist bastion home to the state capital and the ultra-liberal University of Wisconsin-Madison, where they are hard-pressed to find a fair and impartial jury.

MIKE DAVIS: AFTER TRUMP CASE COLLAPSES, TIME FOR FANI WILLIS TO LAWYER UP

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 15. One defendant has sought to disqualify Judge John Hyland, alleging that a retired judge named Frank Remington wrote the opinion denying a defense motion to dismiss. The recusal motion included support from a Georgetown expert who concluded that, based on writing styles, Remington had written the opinion. Hyland denied the motion to recuse and asserted that he had written the opinion.

Regardless of how the preliminary hearing goes, the case should end. Kaul brought the charges, after the facts were known for four years, in the middle of the 2024 election, in which Wisconsin was a pivotal swing state. We cannot criminalize politics.

There was another prosecutorial embarrassment who brought charges against a slew of defendants over the 2020 election in Georgia: Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Her case got derailed when it became public, thanks to Roman’s attorney Ashleigh Merchant, that Willis was having an affair with one of the special prosecutors she had hired, Nathan Wade, who received nearly $700,000 courtesy of the taxpayers of Fulton County. Wade spent much of it on Willis, treating her to lavish global trips. The lovers claimed Willis had reimbursed Wade, but there was no corroborating evidence. Georgia courts disqualified Willis, and a special prosecutor who replaced her dismissed the case earlier this month.

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Lawfare Democrats failed to lock up, bankrupt, or defeat Trump electorally. They are trying to get one last pound of flesh from some of the president’s former aides and supporters. If Mayes and Kaul do not follow the Georgia special prosecutor’s stellar example and drop their sham cases, the courts in Arizona and Wisconsin should.

The Justice Department also should pursue charges against these affronts to the legal profession for conspiracy to violate the civil rights of these lawfare victims under 18 U.S.C. § 241. After all, as we heard so much during the lawfare campaign against President Trump, no one is above the law.