The Texas state legislature has passed a redistricting plan that uses partisan gerrymandering to create five new districts in the U.S. House of Representatives that would be more likely to elect Republicans than Democrats. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, plans to sign the bill into law, although its implementation may be held up by lawsuits against the redistricting plan.
In response, some Democrats have called on states to counter Texas by drawing new Democratic-leaning House maps. California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has drafted a ballot initiative that will ask voters if they would like to replace the state’s current House districts — which were drawn by an independent non-partisan commission — with a plan that would create five new Democratic-leaning districts. If the ballot initiative passes and 2026 elections go as expected, California’s five new Democratic seats would balance Texas’ five new Republican seats. Other Democratic governors, including Maryland’s Wes Moore and Illinois’ JB Pritzker, have said they are considering redistricting in response to Texas’ bill.
A YouGov survey in early August found that majorities of Americans think gerrymandering is unfair, a major problem, and should be illegal. We also found that a majority of Americans did not want their state to draw districts favoring a particular party, even if this could counter gerrymandering in other states. In a new YouGov survey, we asked these same questions to see if the passage of Texas’ redistricting plan has moved the needle. Large majorities of Americans continue to say that gerrymandering is unfair and should be illegal. However, the share who say that tit-for-tat gerrymandering is fair has grown and a majority of Democrats would now approve of their states adopting Democratic gerrymanders to counter the Republican gerrymander in Texas. We also found that more Americans now know there is no federal law prohibiting partisan gerrymandering, though most Americans still want such a law.
Support for Democratic gerrymandering to counter Texas has risen
In the beginning of August, when Texas’ redistricting plan was just a proposal, about half (51%) of Americans said that they would oppose their states counter-gerrymandering if Texas adopted its plan, while only about a quarter (24%) would support it. However, now that the plan has passed the Texas state legislature, support for tit-for-tat gerrymandering has risen. Americans are still more likely to oppose than support tit-for-tat gerrymandering (45% vs. 31%), but net support for Democratic counter-gerrymandering has increased by 13 percentage points in three weeks: Support has grown by 7 percentage points while opposition has fallen by 6 points.
The largest change in attitudes has occurred among Democrats. In the beginning of August, Democrats were evenly split: 40% strongly or somewhat supported adopting Democratic gerrymanders to counter Texas, while 39% opposed it. Now, a majority (53%) of Democrats support tit-for-tat gerrymandering against Texas, while just 32% oppose it. There have also been modest increases in support for Democratic counter-gerrymanders among Independents and Republicans, though both groups remain much more likely to oppose such a move than to support it.
Support for Republican gerrymandering to counter California has also grown
In the beginning of August, a majority (55%) of Americans said they would oppose their states adopting Republican counter-gerrymanders if California drew more Democratic districts. Now that California has started the process to do so, that opposition has dropped to 47%, though it remains a far greater share than the 26% of Americans who would support a tit-for-tat gerrymander against California.
Republicans show less appetite for counter-gerrymandering against California than Democrats do for counter-gerrymandering against Texas. Republicans are now slightly more likely to support tit-for-tat gerrymandering than to oppose it (40% vs. 36%). That’s an increase in support from the beginning of August, when only 33% of Republicans supported tit-for-tat gerrymandering and about half (48%) opposed it. But it’s still less than the 53% of Democrats who would support adopting Democratic gerrymanders to counter Texas.
Most Americans see gerrymandering as unfair, but views on tit-for-tat gerrymandering are about evenly split
Both of our August surveys on gerrymandering found a large majority of Americans saying it is unfair for a state to draw its U.S. House districts in a way that favors one party. However, that share has slightly fallen since early August, to 68% from 76%.
The largest change in attitudes on this question has been among Republicans. 57% say partisan gerrymandering is unfair, down from 72% in early August. The share of Republicans saying gerrymandering is completely unfair — rather than just somewhat unfair — has declined by even more, to 37% from 55%. Independents have also become less likely to say gerrymandering is unfair: 65% now compared to 76% in early August. On the other hand, the share of Democrats who say gerrymandering is unfair has remained high: 84% now compared to 82% in early August. Still, the view that gerrymandering is somewhat or completely fair remains rare among all groups.
Most Americans see gerrymandering as unfair, but attitudes are more divided on tit-for-tat gerrymandering. We asked whether, if a state redraws its U.S. House districts to favor one party, it is fair or unfair for other states to redraw their districts to favor the other party. Opinions are about evenly split: 37% say fair and 39% say unfair. In early August, Americans were much less likely to say it was fair than to say it was unfair (23% vs. 51%).
There has been explosive growth in the belief that tit-for-tat gerrymandering is fair among Democrats. The share saying it is fair has risen to 50% and the share saying it is unfair has dropped to 33%. In early August, Democrats were less likely to say it was fair (27%) than to say it was unfair (48%). Independents and Republicans have also become more likely to say that tit-for-tat gerrymandering is fair, but both groups are still more likely to say it is unfair than to say it is fair.
Americans have become more aware of the lack of a federal ban of partisan gerrymandering, though most would favor a ban
Partisan gerrymandering is not prohibited federally, though there are several statewide bans. Only 42% of Americans correctly say that it is legal under federal law — a slight increase from 37% in early August. Democrats, Independents, and Republicans have all grown more likely to say that partisan gerrymandering is legal, with the largest increase among Republicans.
Despite growing awareness of partisan gerrymandering’s legality, most Americans continue to think that it should be illegal. Today, 66% say gerrymandering should be illegal while only 8% say it should be legal. In early August, 69% of Americans said it should be illegal and 9% said it should be legal. These differences are within the margin of error, meaning we do not have significant evidence that attitudes have changed.
Similarly, support for independent redistricting commissions remains high despite California’s proposal to replace its independently drawn map with a gerrymandered proposal. Today, 51% of Americans say an independent commission should draw their state’s districts while only 19% say that the state legislature should do so. In early August, 49% preferred an independent commission while 21% preferred the state legislature. These differences are also within the margin of error, meaning there is no strong evidence of change since early August.
— Taylor Orth and Carl Bialik contributed to this article
See the results for this YouGov survey
Related articles and surveys:
- Large majorities of Americans say gerrymandering is a major problem, unfair, and should be illegal
- Donald Trump approval, Ghislaine Maxwell, gerrymandering, inflation, and unemployment
- 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 22 - 24, 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%.
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