A Colorado Democrat running for Congress wants her state to join the partisan redistricting battle that began in Texas.
Former Democratic Rep. Yadira Caraveo, who represented Colorado鈥檚 8th Congressional District, is hoping to secure the Democratic nomination for a rematch with Republican Rep. Gabe Evans, the incumbent who defeated Caraveo by a razor-thin margin in 2024. The district, which covers the northern Denver suburbs and Greeley, is the most competitive in the state.
As Republicans in Texas in an effort to retain GOP control of the U.S. House of Representatives after the 2026 midterms, Caraveo is urging Colorado鈥檚 leaders to engage in partisan map-making of their own, a move that would benefit Democrats like herself, should she win the primary.
鈥淔or the sake of the country, Democrats need to fight back,鈥� Caraveo said in a press release last week. 鈥淚 applaud Democrats around the country who are moving to redraw their own maps to counter this MAGA power grab and urge Colorado to repeal our independent commission and do the same.鈥�
Democratic leaders in other states echoed Caraveo鈥檚 鈥渄o something鈥� sentiment.
鈥淚 think we need to respond in kind,鈥� Kansas鈥� Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly about Texas.
鈥淚t is a terrible spot we鈥檙e in as a country, but not responding is going to make it even worse,鈥� said Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic nominee for vice president last year.
The urgings from Caraveo and national Democrats are not expected to change minds in Colorado. Drawing a new congressional map to favor Democrats is highly unlikely for two reasons: as of 2018, a is in control of redistricting, and the state鈥檚 leading Democrats are not eager to change that.
鈥淕errymandering is bad for America and does not fairly represent the will of voters,鈥� said Eric Maruyama, a spokesperson for Gov. Jared Polis, in a statement to Rocky Mountain PBS. 鈥淕ov. Polis doesn't believe politicians shouldn鈥檛 pick the people 鈥� the people should pick the politicians.鈥�
鈥淚t would not surprise Gov. Polis if blue states try to counter Texas if they actually attempt a craven and cynical mid-decade redistricting ploy,鈥� Maruyama added.
鈥淲hat they鈥檙e doing is wrong,鈥� Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper about Texas Republicans鈥� plans. 鈥淚t鈥檚 this win-at-any-cost devolution of our political system. But I don鈥檛 think the response is to undo the good work that鈥檚 been done.鈥�
The Republican supermajority in Texas鈥� statehouse last week unveiled a new congressional map that, if adopted, is expected to net five Republican seats in the 2026 midterms, a result that could dash Democrats鈥� hopes of retaking control of the House of Representatives. The new map reshape districts in major metro areas, pitting current members of Congress against each other.
Texas Democrats are to deny Republicans the chance to vote on the map, but that tactic is expected to only delay 鈥� not prevent 鈥� the vote, because Republican Gov. Greg Abbott can call a new session after time expires.
Winning back the House in 2026 would give Democrats the chance to thwart much of Trump鈥檚 agenda in the second half of his presidency. It would also empower the party to launch congressional investigations into the president鈥檚 administration.
suggests Democrats are favored to take back the House, but Republican redistricting could change that.
鈥淸A] big blue wave in 2026 would be large enough to overcome the hyper-partisan effect of the TX GOP's hyper-partisan redistricting efforts. But in a smaller wave (a ripple?), the seat changes could flip control of the U.S. House,鈥� data journalist G. Elliott Morris, who covers election polling and national politics.
Colorado has eight congressional districts. Currently, the seats are split between four Democrats and four Republicans. Drawing a new map that gives Democrats an advantage is possible, said Rebecca Theobald, but not without sacrificing quality.
鈥淭here are ways to do it, I can imagine,鈥� said Theobald, a geography professor and director of at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. 鈥淏ut it would be very ugly and would make no sense in terms of how you put people together.鈥�
Colorado鈥檚 current congressional map received an A rating from Princeton University鈥檚 . States with the worst ratings include Texas, Florida and Illinois.
Mid-decade redistricting is rare. Republican state lawmakers in Texas justified the extraordinary move by referencing a U.S. Department of Justice letter that said four of the state鈥檚 current districts are racially gerrymandered. Previously, Texas Republicans insisted the maps weren鈥檛 gerrymandered and were reluctant to draw new maps. They changed their tune when and asked for more Republican seats, an indication that the party鈥檚 greatest motivation for redistricting is delivering for the president.
Democrats in Texas and across the country decried the redistricting as purely partisan gerrymandering and anti-democratic. 鈥淓veryone who cares about our democracy must mobilize against this illegal map,鈥� said Rep. Greg Casar, a Democrat whose district includes parts of Austin and San Antonio.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, last week in Texas who are trying to stop the Republicans from expanding their party advantage.
California鈥檚 Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, plans to move ahead with his own redistricting plan if Texas approves the new map, according to . Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, who represents part of the Bay Area, said Newsom鈥檚 plan could net for Democrats.
The tit-for-tat between Texas and California has set the stage for a potential gerrymandering arms race. Political scientist Lee Drutman estimated that Republicans will probably net through mid-decade redistricting in Texas and other states.
Texas is better positioned than most blue states in terms of quickly drawing new maps. The impediments to mid-decade redistricting in Colorado are common in other Democrat-led states. In California, New Jersey, New York and Washington 鈥� states that could redistrict their way to more Democratic reps in Congress 鈥� there are 鈥渘onpartisan backstops against partisan gerrymanders,鈥� according to a recent . No such guardrails exist in Republican-led states like Texas and Missouri.
Colorado is one of 15 states with a Democratic 鈥渢rifecta,鈥� meaning the party controls the governor鈥檚 mansion and both houses of the state legislature. Both of Colorado鈥檚 U.S. Senators are also Democrats. However, the Democratic dominance is not reflected in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Out of those 15 trifecta states, Colorado is one of two states that has an even number of Democratic and Republican members of Congress in the House of Representatives (Colorado and Minnesota have four of each). Many of the Democratic trifecta states don鈥檛 have any Republican members of Congress at all, another reason Democrats would have a hard time keeping up with Republican gerrymandering 鈥� many blue states are already maxed out.
But considering the prevalence of Democratic leadership in Colorado, is it fair to wonder if Republicans are overrepresented in the state鈥檚 congressional delegation?
鈥淚 think actually the congressional delegation represents the larger aspects of Colorado very well,鈥� Theobald said. She called Colorado 鈥渁n excellent microcosm of the country鈥� in that Democratic voters tend to live in urban areas while Republican voters are in more rural parts of the state.
鈥滻 think it's more of a purple state than people imagine,鈥� she said.
If Colorado鈥檚 leaders were to change their minds and endorse mid-decade redistricting, they would face an uphill battle.
One option would be for the legislature to change Amendment Y of the state constitution, which voters approved in 2018. Amendment Y took the power of redistricting away from state lawmakers and gave it to an independent commission. Changing that amendment would require approval from two-thirds of both the state House and Senate, meaning at least a few Republicans would have to sign on.
鈥淭hose amendments were voted on by the people,鈥� Theobald said. 鈥淎nd so changing those would really be in violation of what the people wanted in terms of their redistricting for Colorado.鈥�
The statehouse could also refer a ballot measure to the voters. Or, if the voters of Colorado decided themselves that they want their lawmakers to draw congressional maps again, they could amend the state constitution via statewide ballot initiative, or include an initiative to repeal Amendment Y (the deadline to get an initiative on the 2025 ballot has already passed). A ballot initiative amending the constitution needs to pass by at least 55%. A repeal of the amendment requires only a simple majority.
Although changes to Colorado鈥檚 maps are improbable, Theobald hopes more people begin to understand how redistricting 鈥� and gerrymandering 鈥� works. For a long time, she said, the map-making process was inaccessible or downright clandestine.
鈥淭he people who were drawing these maps were sometimes in locked hotel rooms and looking at these maps. And maybe if you were a state legislator, you might be invited in to take a look at how your district was shaping up,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut there was very little transparency in this process.鈥�