Republican state legislators in Texas have recently announced a plan to use gerrymandering to create five new districts in the U.S. House of Representatives that would be far more likely to elect Republicans than Democrats. Many Democrats have condemned this move. Democratic state legislators have left Texas to delay a vote on the new House districts. (Texas law requires a minimum number of state legislators to pass the redistricting plan.) California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has threatened that if the Republican gerrymander in Texas comes into effect, he will attempt a tit-for-tat gerrymander by redrawing California’s U.S. House districts to elect more Democrats.
Partisan gerrymandering is the practice of drawing legislative districts that favor one party over another. This can be achieved through the simultaneous practices of packing and cracking: packing or cramming supporters of one party into a few districts that vote overwhelmingly for its candidates, while favoring the other party by cracking or spreading its supporters across many districts that just barely give its candidates a majority. With this process, state legislators can give one party a far greater share of seats than its share of votes. For instance, it can transform three districts that each support Democrats by 60% into one district that supports Democrats by 90% and two that support Republicans by 55% — or the reverse.
In a recent YouGov survey, we asked Americans what they think about gerrymandering and how much they know about it. While many Americans don’t know a lot about gerrymandering, when it is described large majorities view it as unfair (76%), a major problem (76%), and something that should be illegal (69%). Most Americans prefer for the districts in their state not to give an advantage to either party (67%) and few would support gerrymandering even if it countered partisan redistricting in Texas (24%) or California (19%). However, there are important partisan differences in evaluations of gerrymandering: Generally, less Republicans than Democrats oppose gerrymandering, though Democrats are more willing to use tit-for-tat gerrymandering in response to Republican partisan gerrymandering in other states than Republicans are to counter Democratic gerrymanders. (In another survey this week, we found that Americans are split over whether districts in their states are drawn fairly and that majorities would support proposals for redistricting to require public input and be conducted by nonpartisan commissions.)
Most Americans see gerrymandering as a major problem
Three-quarters (75%) of Americans say that partisan gerrymandering is a major problem. A further 19% say it is a minor problem, while only 6% say it is not a problem at all. The share of Americans who view partisan gerrymandering as a major problem has increased in the past few years. In a 2022 survey, 66% said it was a major problem, 23% said it was a minor problem, and 11% said it was not a problem.
Majorities of Americans of all political affiliations express concern about gerrymandering. Democrats are most likely to view gerrymandering as a major problem (83%), followed by Independents (76%) and Republicans (66%). Concern has grown within all three groups since 2022, when 73% of Democrats, 65% of Independents, and 61% of Republicans said gerrymandering was a major problem.
Majorities of Americans in all age groups say that gerrymandering is a major problem. Today, attitudes differ little by age, and more than 70% of Americans in each major age group consider gerrymandering to be a major problem. But concern has increased the most since 2022 among younger adults. Today, 74% of adults under 30 say gerrymandering is a major problem, up from 54% in 2022. There’s been a similar change in attitudes among 30- to 44-year-olds: 70% say gerrymandering is a major problem, up from 55% in 2022.
Americans think partisan gerrymandering should be illegal; many don't know its current legal status
There is no federal law barring partisan gerrymandering, though it is banned in some states. In its Rucho v. Common Cause decision, the Supreme Court ruled that it did not have the authority to prevent states from drawing districts that favor one party. Regardless, most Americans (69%) believe it should be illegal to draw electoral districts in a way that makes it harder for members of a particular party to elect their preferred candidates. Only 9% believe that partisan gerrymandering should be legal.
Majorities of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans believe partisan gerrymandering should be illegal. This feeling is closer to unanimous among Democrats, while Republicans’ attitudes are more mixed. 80% of Democrats say partisan gerrymandering should be illegal, as do 69% of Independents and 57% of Republicans. Few Americans think partisan gerrymandering should be legal, including only 7% of Democrats, 6% of Independents, and 14% of Republicans.
For comparison, we also asked about racial gerrymandering. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution and the 1965 Voting Rights Act make it illegal to draw districts in a way that makes it harder for members of a particular racial group to elect their preferred candidates. This outlawed the common practice of dividing areas with large Black populations across several districts with majority white populations, ensuring that white majorities would be able to elect the candidate in each of the districts. Americans are slightly more likely to support a ban on racial gerrymandering than partisan gerrymandering: 74% say racial gerrymandering should be illegal compared to 69% who say the same about partisan gerrymandering. This gap of about 5 percentage points is about the same among Democrats, Independents, and Republicans.
While most Americans (64%) believe that both partisan and racial gerrymandering should be illegal, many are unsure about the current legal status of each type of gerrymandering. Only 37% of Americans correctly say that federal law makes partisan gerrymandering legal; 22% believe it is illegal and 41% are not sure. Even less Americans know that racial gerrymandering is illegal: 30% correctly say this, while 28% believe it is legal and 42% are not sure.
Democrats are more likely than Independents to believe that both forms of gerrymandering are legal at the federal level: 45% believe that partisan gerrymandering is legal, compared to 32% of Independents and 36% of Republicans. Meanwhile, 38% of Democrats believe racial gerrymandering is legal, compared to 24% of Independents and 23% of Republicans.
Most Americans don't want gerrymandering in their states, regardless of which party it helps
About two-thirds (67%) of Americans say that they would prefer for districts in their state to be drawn in a way that doesn’t give an advantage to either Democrats or Republicans. Only 9% want districts that favor Democrats and 11% want districts that favor Republicans.
Even Democrats and Republicans say they would prefer for districts to be drawn in an unbiased way. Only 24% of Democrats and 28% of Republicans would prefer their state to draw districts that favor their party, compared to 67% of Democrats and 62% of Republicans who want districts that don’t give an advantage to either side.
Some states — such as Arizona, Idaho, and Virginia — have attempted to prevent partisan gerrymandering by assigning the redistricting process to independent commissions rather than state legislators. About half of Americans would like to see this solution implemented in their states, far more than want the process controlled by their state legislature. 49% believe an independent commission should be used to draw their state’s legislative districts, while only 21% would prefer their state legislature to draw the lines.
Democrats and Independents are more likely than Republicans to prefer their state's redistricting be done by an independent commission. 59% of Democrats and 50% of Independents favor an independent commission, while only 12% of Democrats and 18% of Independents prefer that their state's districts be drawn by the state legislature. Republicans are almost evenly split: 38% of Republicans would give redistricting authority to an independent commission while 35% would give it to the state legislature.
Americans see gerrymandering as unfair, even when other states are doing it
One possible explanation for Americans’ overwhelming opposition to partisan gerrymandering is that most view it as unfair. 76% of Americans say that it is somewhat or completely unfair for a state to redraw districts for the U.S. House of Representatives in a way that favors one party. Only 5% say doing so is somewhat or completely fair.
Among all political affiliations, majorities believe partisan gerrymandering is unfair. 82% of Democrats, 76% of Independents, and 72% of Republicans say partisan gerrymandering for U.S. House districts is unfair. Only 3% of Democrats, 5% of Independents, and 8% of Republicans say it is fair.
If all the other states were going to jump off a bridge, should yours? What about if another state were going to engage in partisan gerrymandering? About half (51%) of Americans say that if a state redraws its U.S. House districts to favor one party, then it is still unfair for other states to redraw districts to favor the other party. Only 23% say that doing so would be fair.
While Democrats are more likely than Independents and Republicans to say that partisan gerrymandering is unfair, they also are more likely to say that tit-for-tat gerrymandering is fair. 27% of Democrats say it is fair to use gerrymandering to counter another state's gerrymandering, though a larger share (48%) say it is unfair. Less Independents and Republicans see tit-for-tat gerrymandering as fair: 23% of Independents and 20% of Republicans say it is fair, while 51% of Independents and 54% of Republicans say it is unfair.
While most Americans think partisan gerrymandering is unfair in theory, even if the other side started it, would they be willing to support it in practice? Two questions asked for opinion on more specific scenarios. The Texas state legislature has announced plans to redraw its districts in a way that favors Republicans, while California Governor Gavin Newsom has threatened to redraw California’s districts to favor Democrats if Texas goes through with the plan. Given that context, would Americans support partisan gerrymanders to counteract Texas' or California’s plans?
Far more Americans oppose than support partisan gerrymandering in each case. 51% of Americans would somewhat or strongly oppose their state drawing more Democratic districts to counter a Republican gerrymander in Texas and 55% would oppose their state drawing more Republican districts to counteract a Democratic gerrymander in California. Only 24% would support such a plan to counter Texas Republicans and 19% would support doing so to counter California Democrats.
Democrats and Republicans are more likely to favor gerrymandering that favors their party and reacts to gerrymandering in another state favoring the other party — but support is far from overwhelming even within these groups. Democrats are evenly split over using partisan gerrymandering to counteract Texas drawing more Republican districts: 40% would support such a plan while 39% would oppose it. Republicans are less supportive of tit-for-tat gerrymandering in their own favor: 33% would support drawing more Republican districts if California adopted a Democratic gerrymander, while 48% oppose doing so.
Many Americans don’t know a lot about gerrymandering
In addition to asking Americans’ opinions about gerrymandering, we also asked questions to find out how much the public knows about the topic.
Americans are more likely to say that current U.S. House districts have been drawn to favor Republicans than Democrats. 32% of Americans say that a larger number of districts have been drawn to give an advantage to Republicans, while 16% say that a larger number favor Democrats and 17% say that districts are about evenly split. However, 35% of Americans say they’re not sure which party draws a greater advantage from gerrymandering in the House.
Both Democrats and Republicans are more likely to say that partisan gerrymandering gives an advantage to the other side, although attitudes are lopsided between the two parties. Most Democrats (60%) say that Republicans have an advantage in more House districts, while only 6% say Democrats have the larger advantage. In contrast, only 30% of Republicans believe that Democrats draw a larger advantage from gerrymandering, though this is still more than the 11% who say Republicans are more likely to be favored. Like Democrats, Independents are more likely to say that House districts favor Republicans, though by a much smaller margin: 26% say Republicans derive more advantage while 13% say Democrats do.
According to FactCheck.org, there is some disagreement among researchers about the effect of the current boundaries of House districts on the House’s partisan makeup. Some experts have found that partisan gerrymandering has led to a significant seat advantage for Republicans. Others say that districts don’t strongly favor one party or the other. None of the researchers contacted by FactCheck.org said that current districts give a large advantage to Democrats.
For specific states, Americans are even less likely to know whether gerrymandering favors Democrats or Republicans. Perhaps driven by recent news about potential partisan gerrymandering in Texas and California, Americans are most likely to say that California’s districts favor Democrats (42%) and that Texas’ districts favor Republicans (47%). However, despite this news coverage, both states have not yet drawn new districts. In fact, California’s state constitution requires that its districts be drawn by a nonpartisan independent commission, calling into question whether the state could gerrymander in favor of Democrats even if state leaders wanted to.
Large shares of Americans are not sure about partisan gerrymandering in smaller states. For example, Wisconsin is rated as having the most aggressive Republican gerrymander in the country. Despite this, only 21% of Americans know that Wisconsin is gerrymandered in favor of Republicans and about as many (17%) think it is gerrymandered in favor of Democrats. About half of Americans say they are not sure whether legislative districts have been drawn in favor of Democrats or Republicans in each of Maryland (51%), Wisconsin (50%), Ohio (48%), and North Carolina (48%).
Finally, we asked Americans in an open-ended question if they could produce the term “gerrymandering” when given the definition "drawing legislative districts to make it harder for one group to win elections." 36% of Americans respond with “gerrymandering” (or a substantially similar answer; we didn’t grade for spelling). Of course, this doesn’t mean that 64% of Americans have never heard of gerrymandering. It just means that they can’t — or choose not to — bring the term to mind when answering a question about it.
Democrats are a bit more likely than Independents or Republicans to answer this question correctly: 47% of Democrats volunteer the term “gerrymandering,” compared to 34% of Independents and 28% of Republicans. This parallels the higher shares of Democrats who oppose gerrymandering and say it is a major problem. There is not much difference by age. This parallels the lack of large age differences on the question of whether gerrymandering is a problem.
— Taylor Orth and Carl Bialik contributed to this article
See the results for this YouGov survey
Related articles and surveys:
- 100 policies supported by majorities of Democrats and Republicans
- Do you think legislative districts are drawn fairly or unfairly in your state?
- Do you support or oppose requiring public input on proposed congressional and legislative voting districts?
- Do you support or oppose requiring that redistricting is conducted by a nonpartisan redistricting commission?
Methodology: This YouGov poll was conducted online on August 1 - 4, 2025 among 1,116 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.
Image: Getty (Tasos Katopodis / Stringer)
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