An independent redistricting commission is considering realigning the state, dividing it east to west rather than north to south, and creating more competitive districts than currently exist. But Democratic legislators will have the final say, and they may try instead to make all three of the state’s House seats safely Democratic after one of them flipped to a Republican, Yvette Herrell, last year.
New York
Democrats may gain four or five seats
New York, which is losing one of its 27 House seats, has a bipartisan redistricting commission, but its recommendations are not binding and its members are struggling to agree anyway. The Democratic governor and Legislature are likely to bypass the commission and draw their own lines. They could knock at least four Republican incumbents out of Congress by combining conservative areas represented by Chris Jacobs, Tom Reed, Elise Stefanik, Claudia Tenney, Andrew Garbarino and Lee Zeldin into three districts instead of six, and adding liberal parts of Brooklyn to Nicole Malliotakis’s swing district, which includes Staten Island.
Oregon
It’s wide open
Democrats and Republicans recently released draft maps that would take Oregon’s House delegation — which currently consists of four Democrats and one Republican, and will gain a sixth member — in opposite directions. The Democratic plan would make the new seat blue and would probably result in a 5-1 split. The Republican plan would create more competitive seats but could result in a 4-2 split in favor of Republicans, though Oregon is a blue state.
South Carolina
Republicans may protect one competitive seat
South Carolina Republicans are likely to try to cement their 6-1 advantage in the House by shifting some left-leaning voters from the competitive First District — represented by a Republican, Nancy Mace — to the overwhelmingly Democratic Sixth District, represented by Jim Clyburn. This strategy would make the First District safe for Mace, who narrowly defeated a first-term Democrat, Joe Cunningham, last year.