President Donald Trump asked Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) to call the state legislature in for a special session where they could approve new congressional maps that would redraw district lines in favor of Republicans. That began a partisan back-and-forth, with Democratic states such as California and New York threatening to redraw their maps in favor of Democrats. The process of redistricting is complicated and time-consuming, and not every state that has floated mid-decade redistricting is legally allowed to do so. This Washington Examiner series, “Power Lines,” will investigate the process, its local implications, and the hurdles the mid-decade redistricting effort helmed by national political figures will face in court. Part 1 is an in-depth look at how redistricting works in different states. Part 2 investigates why Democrats are at such a disadvantage in the redistricting battle after the 2010 midterm elections.

As the redistricting effort plays out on the national scale, with Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) sheltering Texas Democrats who are hoping to halt passage of new maps in the Republican-controlled legislature, state Democrats are turning to an initiative targeting redistricting from the bottom up.