Democrats are in serious trouble, and they know it. No matter how hard they try, they just can’t seem to take down Donald Trump. His approval ratings haven’t really changed, and new polling shows Democrats are nowhere near where they need to be if they hope to claw back control of Congress next year. As if that weren’t bad enough for them, their other big battle — the redistricting war — is shaping up to be another political disaster for them.
North Carolina is now firmly in the middle of the nation’s redistricting battles, and Democrats should be concerned. As CNN’s Dana Bash noted, “It’s a 50-50 state when it comes to national elections, but the legislature is dominated by Republicans who have basically free rein to draw its districts, however they want, and what they want is to flip at least one seat in the U.S. Congress from blue to red.”
CNN correspondent Tom Foreman broke down just how aggressively Republicans are moving. “Fourteen districts here, they used to reflect just what you said about a 50-50 state. It was seven in seven in terms of their seats. Republicans redistricted, and now it is 10 Republican districts to four,” Foreman explained. He added that Republicans are targeting the first district, which Democrat Don Davis currently holds, hoping to “cut this tiny lead here away and pick up yet another seat, very much not representing the demographics of their state, the political demographics, but certainly representing something they would like.”
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North Carolina is far from the only state where Democrats stand to lose seats as well. Foreman pointed to at least a dozen states actively engaged in redistricting battles. “Texas started down here. They wanted to redraw their lines to say, 'We’re going to do this and favor the Republicans there.' California responded by saying they’re in the process of it now. 'We’ll do the same thing, and we’ll have a better advantage for five seats here.' But then it just kept spreading,” he said. He also noted chatter in New York and Illinois, although those efforts “haven’t really blown up into anything yet,” which would favor Democrats if they did, but not significantly since Democrats have already heavily gerrymandered those states.
The stakes are high because of the narrow balance in Congress. Foreman emphasized, “Right now, the division in Congress, very, very narrow, actually represents pretty accurately, mathematically, how the country’s divided over the question of the presidency. But if you look at this, this is what the party pickups would be for congressional districts… Republicans: five. Missouri, one. North Carolina, one. Ohio, two or three. Indiana, one or two. Florida, still discussion down there, but that could be another gold mine for them if they tipped it even further their way. Kansas, one. New Hampshire, one. And Nebraska.”
Democrats could see some gains in Utah, California, and Maryland, but Foreman pointed out that the math ultimately favors Republicans: “If you offset California and Texas, Missouri and Utah, North Carolina and Maryland, everything left over is an advantage to the Republicans.”
🚨 BREAKING: Panic is worsening among Democrats after it sinks in just how many Republican House seats will be picked up through redistricting by 2026
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 14, 2025
"Democrats could lose 19 SEATS! This is a HUGE amount!"
"Florida could be a gold mine! [...] EVERYTHING left over is an… pic.twitter.com/6W6QNhz8xx
Adding more drama to this saga is the potential that the Supreme Court will strike down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act that allows for race-based electoral districts, a key element of the Democrats’ gerrymandering strategy.
The Democrats’ dream of retaking Congress is slipping further out of reach, and they know it. If they manage to seize control of the House, you can bet they’ll waste no time unleashing another circus of investigations, witch hunts, and yet another impeachment push against President Trump. Their obsession with stopping him has never been about policy; it’s about revenge and control. But with redistricting battles breaking in Republicans’ favor and the GOP’s House majority hanging by just a few seats, the left’s path back to power looks increasingly unlikely.
