These preppers have ‘bug-out' bags, guns and a fear of global disaster. They're also left-wing
Hurricanes
Storms
Climate changeFacebookTweetLink
Follow
The day after President Donald Trump was elected in 2016, Eric Shonkwiler looked at his hiking bag to figure out what supplies he had. 'I began to look at that as a resource for escape, should that need to happen,' he said.
He didn't have the terminology for it at the time, but this backpack was his 'bug-out bag' — essential supplies for short-term survival. It marked the start of his journey into prepping. In his Ohio home, which he shares with his wife and a Pomeranian dog, Rosemary, he now has a six-month supply of food and water, a couple of firearms and a brood of chickens. 'Resources to bridge the gap across a disaster,' he said.
Margaret Killjoy's entry point was a bleak warning in 2016 from a scientist friend, who told her climate change was pushing the global food system closer than ever to collapse. Killjoy started collecting food, water and generators. She bought a gun and learned how to use it. She started a prepping podcast, Live Like the World is Dying, and grew a community.
Prepping has long been dominated by those on the political right. The classic stereotype, albeit not always accurate, is of the lone wolf with a basement full of Spam, a wall full of guns, and a mind full of conspiracy theories.
Shonkwiler and Killjoy belong to a much smaller part of the subculture: They are left-wing preppers. This group is also preparing for a doom-filled future, and many also have guns, but they say their prepping emphasizes community and mutual aid over bunkers and isolationism.
In an era of barreling crises — from wars to climate change — some say prepping is becoming increasingly appealing to those on the left.
The roots of modern-day prepping in the United States go back to the 1950s, when fears of nuclear war reached a fever pitch.
The 1970s saw the emergence of the survivalist movement, which dwindled in the 1990s as it became increasingly associated with an extreme-right subculture steeped in racist ideology.
A third wave followed in the early 2000s, when the term 'prepper' began to be adopted more widely, said Michael Mills, a social scientist at Anglia Ruskin University, who specializes in survivalism and doomsday prepping cultures. Numbers swelled following big disasters such as 9/11, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the 2008 financial crisis.
A watershed moment for right-wing preppers was the election of Barack Obama in 2008, Mills said. For those on the left, it was Trump's 2016 election.
Preppers of all political stripes are usually motivated by a 'foggy cloud of fear' rather than a belief in one specific doomsday scenario playing out, Mills said. Broad anxieties tend to swirl around the possibility of economic crises, pandemics, natural disasters, war and terrorism.
'We've hit every one of those' since the start of this century, said Anna Maria Bounds, a sociology professor at Queens College, who has written a book about New York's prepper subculture. These events have solidified many preppers' fears that, in times of crisis, the government would be 'overwhelmed, under-prepared and unwilling to help,' she said.
This fear is where Marlon Smith's interest in preparedness began. Growing up in Trinidad, he lived through an attempted coup in 1990 that sparked his concern the government would not be there in times of disaster. This only deepened after he moved to New York City and watched the aftermath of 9/11 and then Hurricane Katrina. 'You see the inability of the government to truly help their citizens,' he said.
Smith, who now lives in New Jersey, runs a fashion company by day and spends his weekends teaching survival skills — including how to survive nuclear fallout. 'People find it funny that I work in women's evening wear and yet I do this hardcore prepping and survivalism in the woods,' he said.
It's hard to pin down the exact number of preppers in the US. Mills says 5 million is a reasonable estimate; others would say much higher. Chris Ellis, a military officer and academic who researches disaster preparedness, puts the figure at around 20 to 23 million using data from FEMA household surveys.
Figuring out the proportion of preppers on the left is perhaps even trickier. Mills, who has surveyed 2,500 preppers over the past decade, has consistently found about 80% identify as conservatives, libertarians or another right-wing ideology. He doesn't see any dramatic upswing in left-wing preppers.
Anecdotal evidence, however, points to increased interest from this side of the political spectrum.
Several left-wing preppers told CNN about the burgeoning popularity of their newsletters, social media channels and prepping courses. Shonkwiler says subscriber numbers to his newsletter When/If increase exponentially whenever right-wing views make headlines, especially elections. He saw a huge uptick when Trump was reelected.
Smith has noticed more liberals among his growing client roster for prepping courses. He has an upcoming session teaching a group in the Hamptons — 'all Democrats,' he said.
Smith is at pains to keep politics out of prepping, however, and makes his clients sign a waiver agreeing not to talk about it. 'You leave your politics and your religion at the door. … You come here to learn; I'll teach you,' he said.
In some ways, there aren't huge differences in how preppers on the left and right prepare, Mills said. Both focus on long-term supplies of food and water, gathering equipment needed to 'bug in,' when they shelter in their homes, and 'bug out,' when they need to leave in a hurry.
Many left-wing preppers also have guns.
Killjoy is open about the fact she owns firearms but calls it one of the least important aspects of her prepping. She lives in rural Appalachia and, as a transgender woman, says the way she's treated has changed dramatically since Trump's first election. For those on the left, guns are 'for community and self-defense,' she said.
Left-wing preppers consistently say the biggest difference between them and their right-wing peers is the rejection of 'bunker mentality' — the idea of filling a bunker with beans, rice, guns and ammo and expecting to be able to survive the apocalypse alone.
Shonkwiler gives an example of a right-wing guy with a rifle on his back, who falls down the stairs and breaks a leg. If he doesn't have medical training and a community to help, 'he's going to die before he gets to enjoy all his freeze-dried food.'
'People are our greatest asset,' Killjoy said. When Hurricane Helene carved a path of destruction through Asheville, North Carolina in 2024, Killjoy, who used to live in the city, loaded her truck with food and generators and drove there to help.
Inshirah Overton also subscribes to the idea of community. The attorney, who came to prepping after enduring Hurricane Irene in 2011, owns a half-acre plot of land in New Jersey where she grows food and has beehives.
She stores fruit, vegetables and honey but also gives them to friends and neighbors. 'My plan is to create a community of people who have a vested interest in this garden,' she said.
At one point, Overton toyed with the idea of buying a 'bug-out' property in Vermont, somewhere to escape to, but desire for community for her and her two daughters stopped her. In Vermont, 'no one knows me and I'm just a random Black lady, and they'll be like: 'Oh, OK, right, sure. You live here? Sure. Here's the barrel of my shotgun. Turn around.''
This focus on community may stem in part from left-wing preppers' growing fears around the climate crisis, predicted to usher in far-reaching ecological, social and economic breakdown. It cannot be escaped by retreating to a bunker for a few weeks.
As Trump guts weather agencies, pledges to unwind the Federal Emergency Management Administration and slashes climate funding — all while promising to unleash the fossil fuel industry — climate concerns are only coming into sharper focus.
They're top of mind for Brekke Wagoner, the creator and host of the Sustainable Prepping YouTube channel, who lives in North Carolina with her four children. She fears increasingly deadly summer heat and the 'once-in-a-lifetime' storms that keep coming. Climate change 'is just undeniable,' she said.
Her prepping journey started during Trump's first term. She was living in California and filled with fear that in the event of a big natural disaster, the federal government would simply not be there.
Her house now contains a week's worth of water, long-term food supplies, flashlights, backup batteries and a solar generator. 'My goal is for our family to have all of our needs cared for,' she said, so in an emergency, whatever help is available can go to others.
'You can have a preparedness plan that doesn't involve a bunker and giving up on civilization,' she said.
Despite prepping's reputation as a form of doomerism, many left-wing preppers say they are not devoid of hope. Shonkwiler believes there will be an opportunity to create something new in the aftermath of a crisis. 'It begins with preparedness and it ends with a better world,' he said.
Some also say there's less tension between left- and right-wing preppers than people might expect. Bounds, the sociology professor, said very conservative preppers she met during her research contacted her during the Covid-19 pandemic to offer help.
There is a natural human solidarity that emerges amid disaster, Killjoy said. She recalls a cashier giving her a deep discount on supplies she was buying to take to Asheville post-Helene. 'I have every reason to believe that that man is right-wing, and I do think that there is a transcending of political differences that happens in times of crisis,' she said.
As terrifying events pile up, from the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East to deadly extreme weather, it's hard to escape the sense we live in a time of rolling existential crises — often a hair's breadth from global disaster.
People are increasingly beginning to wonder whether their views on preppers have been misconceived, Mills said. 'There is a bigger question floating in the air, which is: Are preppers crazy, or is everyone else?'
Killjoy has seen a huge change over the last five years in people's openness to prepping. Those who used to make fun of her for her 'go bag' are now asking for advice.
It's not necessarily the start of a prepping boom, she said. 'I think it is about more and more people adopting preparedness and prepper things into a normal life.'
Evidence already points this way. Americans stockpiled goods in advance of Trump's tariffs and online sales of contraceptives skyrocketed in the wake of his election, amid concerns he would reduce access. Shows like 'The Walking Dead,' meanwhile, have thrust the idea of prepping into popular culture and big box stores now sell prepping equipment and meal kits.
People are hungry to learn about preparedness, said Shonkwiler. 'They have the understanding that the world as we knew it, and counted on it, is beginning to cease to be. … What we need to be doing now is figuring out how we can survive in the world that we've created.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Protesters gather after immigration raid targets car wash in L.A. County
Protesters gathered in southeast Los Angeles County Friday evening, facing off with masked men in fatigues after federal agents detained at least three people at a car wash in the city of Bell, according to witnesses, and visited another car wash in neighboring Maywood. The immigration action in Bell took place at Jack's Car Wash and Detailing, located in the 7000 block of Atlantic Avenue, just north of Florence Avenue. Security camera footage reviewed by The Times shows masked men wearing olive vests chasing a car wash employee, who was wearing a bright green uniform and cap. The video shows another employee — wearing a bright green cap, a white long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans — surrounded by the masked men, his hands restrained behind his back. The employee is tackled to the ground as customers and others gathered, with some taking out their phones to record videos. The man in the white-long sleeved shirt is a car wash worker who is a U.S. citizen, according to the employee's brother, Jesús Rafael Cervantes. He said his brother, who lives in Bell Gardens, wanted to defend a coworker— an action that, Cervantes said, prompted agents to detain his brother. "Just for defending someone, they came and knocked him down. As you can see in the videos, they came and knocked him down like that, just like that. And that's unfair, that they come and grab a person like that as if he were an animal or something," Cervantes told The Times. Protesters gathered to confront the agents in the area, which is about 6 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. In one video shared with The Times, a protester sprays white paint on a silver SUV and a voice can be heard saying, "Get the ... out of here!" while others jeer. People can be seen hitting the vehicle. Read more: 'They are grabbing people.' L.A. and Orange County car wash workers targeted by federal immigration raids Officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return a request for comment. In a statement posted on social media, the agency said Border Patrol vehicles "were violently targeted during lawful operations" in Bell and neighboring Maywood. The Department of Homeland Security said one vehicle was rammed and had its tires slashed on Atlantic Boulevard. On Slauson Avenue, a civilian struck a federal vehicle, totaling it, according to the department. "The driver was arrested for suspicion of vehicular assault as a mob formed and slashed additional tires," the department said. The statement included photos showing silver vehicles with cracked or shattered windows. One silver SUV was shown with dented doors and scratched paint. "Federal law enforcement is facing an ever-escalating increase in assaults—but we will not be deterred," the department said. "If you assault a federal officer, you will be prosecuted." The statement did not indicate how many were detained on immigration-related matters. The protest in Bell, a city with a large Latino and Lebanese community, comes as the federal government continues its campaign in Los Angeles to find and capture undocumented immigrants. The actions have spurred backlash from local and state officials and have forced some residents into hiding. "We're not sure who these armed men are. They show up without uniforms. They show up completely masked. They refuse to give ID. They're driving regular cars with tinted windows and in some cases, out of state license plates. Who are these people?" Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said at a briefing Friday night. "If they're federal officials, why is it that they do not identify themselves?" Bass asked. Around Atlantic and Brompton avenues, crowds of people gathered, taking videos and looking at the agents — armed individuals wearing balaclavas, some carrying long weapons, wearing vests and camoflauge pants. They stood in the street near a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop. The crowd and agents were separated by yellow tape. One woman with a bullhorn hurled obscenities at the agents and President Trump; others waved a Mexican flag and an upside-down U.S. flag, traditionally a symbol of protest or distress. "Losers!" another woman called out. "Go fight a real war!" Another shouted, "Shame on you!" Read more: More L.A. car washes targeted in immigration raids, some closed amid fears of further sweeps Elsewhere, one of the armed people wore a U.S. flag on his vest, and some onlookers called out to them. "Are you a bounty hunter? How much is the bounty for an illegal right now?" someone on the street yelled. Cudahy Mayor Elizabeth Alcantar Loza was in Bell as the crowds gathered, and said the mood on Atlantic Avenue shifted when suddenly an unmarked silver SUV drove toward her and other people standing near her, angering the crowd. Some began to hit and throw objects at the SUV. A second unmarked vehicle attempted to do the same thing moments later, she said. "It felt like there was a point being made to incite violence," Alcantar Loza said. "People were peacefully protesting, and it became something completely different because of the vehicle that was trying to drive into the crowd." "We've seen it across the board, folks show up to an immigration activity and then violence is enacted upon them. Then they respond and we're shown as violent protesters—when in reality folks were calm, they were chanting, they were protesting. And they tried to run people over," she said. Just after 8 p.m., peaceful protesters waving Mexican and American flags gathered around Jack's Car Wash in Bell, as motorists honked their horns in support. "ICE out of everywhere!!!" one sign said. "Immigrants built this country," said another. There was another immigration action that appeared to focus on a car wash in Maywood on Friday, according to Maywood Councilman Eddie De La Riva. Ultimately no one was taken from that business, he said. At one point, there was considerable commotion near the car wash. Video shared with The Times shows a minor collision between a blue BMW and a blue SUV with at least three agents inside, all wearing green vests. One of the passengers in the SUV opens his door in front of the slowly moving BMW, causing the BMW to hit the SUV's door. Agents detained the BMW's driver, who was later released, the councilman said, after onlookers shouted at the agents to let the driver go. By then, a crowd of protesters had formed. Fernando Botello, 39, was driving back to Maywood after picking up his girlfriend's 14-year-old son when he got an alert on his citizen app that people suspected to be immigration agents were spotted in the area. Moments later, he said, he learned that the agents were at an Xpress Wash at Slauson and Alamo avenues, just blocks from his home. When Botello got close to the intersection, he could see several vehicles were blocking the roadway. Read more: Tensions over L.A. immigration sweeps boil over as Padilla is tackled, ICE arrests pick up Unable to move, he got out of the car and watched the scene. He said the crowd started screaming to let the man go. He could hear people asking for the agents' badge numbers. After five minutes, he said, local police arrived. It was at that point, he said, the agents got in their vehicles and threw tear gas at a group standing on a corner near a park. A video taken by Botello shows an armed masked man standing from the ledge of an open door of a black SUV slowly driving along a street near Maywood's Riverfront Park. The video shows the agent throwing an object toward a crowd of people, and a loud bang can be heard as he gets back in the vehicle. Botello said the object was a flash bang grenade, and was tossed at people who were taking video. "They knew what they wanted to do," he said. As he recounted the situation, Botello paused, trying to hold back tears. "I was upset because the people were exercising their right. They weren't hitting the officers' vehicles, they weren't in the middle of the street," he said. "You're punishing people for standing up for their neighbors and yourself." "It feels surreal. I don't know how long this is going to last." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
Doonesbury Comic Strips by Garry Trudeau - June 20, 2025
........Trump on Fed Reserve Chair Jerome Powell: "A stupid person."....CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten on polling unpopularity of Trump's Big Beautiful Bill: "Oh my God! You need Greg Louganis to get that far underwater!"....Trump on Sen. Alex Padilla: "Nobody's every heard of this like an illegal."....Padilla on Trump, speaking on Senate floor: "A vindictive president on a tour of never had a tyrant as a commander-in-chief."....Trump on Elon Musk: "The man who has lost his mind."....Steve Bannon on Musk: "He should be deported from the country immediately."....DHS Sec. Kristi Noem on LA: "They're not a city of immigrants. They're a city of criminals."....Trump on LA demonstrations against ICE raids: "These are paid insurrectionists, paid trouble-makers; they get money."....Tina Brown: "There's nothing Trump is better at than doubling down on a lie."....Speaker Mike Johnson on CA Gov. Gavin Newsom: "He should be tarred and feathered."....Trump, on whether "border czar" Tom Homan should arrest Newsom: "I would."....ABC's Terry Moran on Trump adviser Stephen Miller: "He's a world-class can see that his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate."....Steve Schmidt: "What the American people are witnessing is Trump and Miller's rolling Reichstag fire...A monstrous lie being used as a pretext to assert power."....Lucian K. Truscott IV on Trump parade: "The whole thing looked like amateur hour at Dictatorville."...Andrew Sullivan: "This, in the president's mind, is not America's military, but his own."....Rep. Jamie Raskin: "We clearly have too many DUI hires in the Trump administration, starting with Secretary Hegseth."....Trump on Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard: "I don't care what she said."....Trump: "I don't know what Tucker Carlson is saying. Let him go get a television network and say it so that people listen."....Rachel Maddow on Trump: "For a would-be strong man he's not strong. He is a remarkably weak and feckless political figure, who is nonetheless trying to overthrow the American form of government."....Sen. Rand Paul on Trump disinviting him from annual WH picnic: "The level of immaturity is beyond words."....Robert Lipsyte: "Pete Rose and Donald Trump are the dregs of American maleness."....Fox host Jesse Watters on Sports Illustrated swimsuit show: "Remember back in the Biden era, all of the swimsuit models were obese?"....Elon Musk: "Is there a worse publication on the face of the Earth than the Wall Street Journal? I wouldn't use that to line my cage for parrot droppings.".... ........Trump on Fed Reserve Chair Jerome Powell: "A stupid person."....CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten on polling unpopularity of Trump's Big Beautiful Bill: "Oh my God! You need Greg Louganis to get that far underwater!"....Trump on Sen. Alex Padilla: "Nobody's every heard of this like an illegal."....Padilla on Trump, speaking on Senate floor: "A vindictive president on a tour of never had a tyrant as a commander-in-chief."....Trump on Elon Musk: "The man who has lost his mind."....Steve Bannon on Musk: "He should be deported from the country immediately."....DHS Sec. Kristi Noem on LA: "They're not a city of immigrants. They're a city of criminals."....Trump on LA demonstrations against ICE raids: "These are paid insurrectionists, paid trouble-makers; they get money."....Tina Brown: "There's nothing Trump is better at than doubling down on a lie."....Speaker Mike Johnson on CA Gov. Gavin Newsom: "He should be tarred and feathered."....Trump, on whether "border czar" Tom Homan should arrest Newsom: "I would."....ABC's Terry Moran on Trump adviser Stephen Miller: "He's a world-class can see that his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate."....Steve Schmidt: "What the American people are witnessing is Trump and Miller's rolling Reichstag fire...A monstrous lie being used as a pretext to assert power."....Lucian K. Truscott IV on Trump parade: "The whole thing looked like amateur hour at Dictatorville."...Andrew Sullivan: "This, in the president's mind, is not America's military, but his own."....Rep. Jamie Raskin: "We clearly have too many DUI hires in the Trump administration, starting with Secretary Hegseth."....Trump on Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard: "I don't care what she said."....Trump: "I don't know what Tucker Carlson is saying. Let him go get a television network and say it so that people listen."....Rachel Maddow on Trump: "For a would-be strong man he's not strong. He is a remarkably weak and feckless political figure, who is nonetheless trying to overthrow the American form of government."....Sen. Rand Paul on Trump disinviting him from annual WH picnic: "The level of immaturity is beyond words."....Robert Lipsyte: "Pete Rose and Donald Trump are the dregs of American maleness."....Fox host Jesse Watters on Sports Illustrated swimsuit show: "Remember back in the Biden era, all of the swimsuit models were obese?"....Elon Musk: "Is there a worse publication on the face of the Earth than the Wall Street Journal? I wouldn't use that to line my cage for parrot droppings.".... ........Trump on Fed Reserve Chair Jerome Powell: "A stupid person."....CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten on polling unpopularity of Trump's Big Beautiful Bill: "Oh my God! You need Greg Louganis to get that far underwater!"....Trump on Sen. Alex Padilla: "Nobody's every heard of this like an illegal."....Padilla on Trump, speaking on Senate floor: "A vindictive president on a tour of never had a tyrant as a commander-in-chief."....Trump on Elon Musk: "The man who has lost his mind."....Steve Bannon on Musk: "He should be deported from the country immediately."....DHS Sec. Kristi Noem on LA: "They're not a city of immigrants. They're a city of criminals."....Trump on LA demonstrations against ICE raids: "These are paid insurrectionists, paid trouble-makers; they get money."....Tina Brown: "There's nothing Trump is better at than doubling down on a lie."....Speaker Mike Johnson on CA Gov. Gavin Newsom: "He should be tarred and feathered."....Trump, on whether "border czar" Tom Homan should arrest Newsom: "I would."....ABC's Terry Moran on Trump adviser Stephen Miller: "He's a world-class can see that his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate."....Steve Schmidt: "What the American people are witnessing is Trump and Miller's rolling Reichstag fire...A monstrous lie being used as a pretext to assert power."....Lucian K. Truscott IV on Trump parade: "The whole thing looked like amateur hour at Dictatorville."...Andrew Sullivan: "This, in the president's mind, is not America's military, but his own."....Rep. Jamie Raskin: "We clearly have too many DUI hires in the Trump administration, starting with Secretary Hegseth."....Trump on Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard: "I don't care what she said."....Trump: "I don't know what Tucker Carlson is saying. Let him go get a television network and say it so that people listen."....Rachel Maddow on Trump: "For a would-be strong man he's not strong. He is a remarkably weak and feckless political figure, who is nonetheless trying to overthrow the American form of government."....Sen. Rand Paul on Trump disinviting him from annual WH picnic: "The level of immaturity is beyond words."....Robert Lipsyte: "Pete Rose and Donald Trump are the dregs of American maleness."....Fox host Jesse Watters on Sports Illustrated swimsuit show: "Remember back in the Biden era, all of the swimsuit models were obese?"....Elon Musk: "Is there a worse publication on the face of the Earth than the Wall Street Journal? I wouldn't use that to line my cage for parrot droppings."....
CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
Republicans might redraw House maps in Ohio and Texas to try to protect narrow majority
CNN — Facing the possibility of losing control of the U.S. House next year, Republicans are weighing aggressively redrawing congressional districts in two states in hopes of ousting several longtime Democratic lawmakers. In Ohio, a quirk in state law is giving Republican state legislators another run at drawing new lines for the state's 15 congressional districts. The goal would be to knock off two Democratic members of the House, giving the GOP a 12-3 advantage in the state's congressional delegation. State lawmakers could go even further and target a third Democratic seat. In Texas, meanwhile, Republicans are considering whether to hold a special legislative session to undertake a rare mid-decade map-drawing that supporters hope could result in the GOP picking up as many as five additional seats. Democrats need a net gain of just three seats to win the House, raising the stakes for Republicans and President Donald Trump, who could see a Democrat-led House block his legislative agenda and open new investigations of him in the second half of his final term. But redistricting is a double-edged sword: In drawing new lines, both states could also endanger GOP lawmakers by moving safe Republican territory into districts currently represented by Democrats. Adam Kincaid, president and executive director of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, favors an aggressive redistricting approach. 'It's a priority to keep the House, and Republicans should be looking for as many seats as we can get,' he said. The GOP's redistricting gains in 2022 were key to the party flipping the chamber in that election and retaining their majority in 2024, he added. 'There were a handful of seats that weren't politically possible to get before that may be possible now,' he added. 'It makes sense for Republicans to try ahead of 2026.' Redrawing maps is potentially risky for GOP incumbents if 2026 proves to be a favorable year for Democrats. Republicans will have to run in a year when Trump himself is not the ballot, helping to boost conservative turnout. 'It's both a gamble and an opportunity,' said Kyle Kondik, the managing editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball, a newsletter published by University of Virginia's Center for Politics. 'From the White House's perspective, would an aggressive Texas redraw increase their chances of holding the House next year? Yeah, probably. But it wouldn't guarantee anything.' Redistricting generally happens at the start of each decade to account for population shifts and ensure that each congressional and state legislative district holds roughly the same number of people. Some Democrats have denounced the potential rounds of mid-decade map-drawing, arguing that Republicans are trying to rig the process. 'Republicans are exploring further manipulation of egregious gerrymanders in red states like Texas and Ohio for one reason: they are terrified of the voters,' said Marina Jenkins, executive director of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, in a statement. 'It's a brazenly corrupt attempt to shield themselves from accountability at the ballot box and it must be stopped.' A third redistricting battle, meanwhile, is playing out in Wisconsin where two legal actions filed last month are challenging a congressional map that favors Republicans in a battleground state that's narrowly divided along partisan lines. Both cases are before the state Supreme Court, which has a liberal majority. Texas could go after border Democrats All but one Republican member of the Texas congressional delegation won their seats with more than 60% of the vote last November. All 25 GOP-held districts voted for Trump by at least 15 points in 2024, Kondik noted. A new GOP map in Texas is likely to shift voters from safely red districts into ones held by Democrats to help boost the number of Republicans that Texas sends to Congress. Currently, under a 2021 map, Republicans control 25 of the state's 38 House seats. (One safely Democratic seat in the Houston area is vacant following the death of Rep. Sylvester Turner. The current Texas congressional maps are the subject of litigation brought by groups representing Black and Latino voters who contend the lines drawn in 2021 discriminate against voters of color.) Clear targets include Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez, who represent border communities that have shifted to the right in recent years. Trump won both districts in 2024, part of a broader realignment among Latino voters. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, argued recently that an aggressive redraw could backfire on Republicans. 'If you make any changes to that map … they are going to endanger four to six Republican incumbents who are serving in the Congress right now,' he said to reporters. 'Be careful what you wish for.' Other Democrats have condemned any effort to change the district lines to further benefit the GOP. 'Texas Republicans should stand by the rule of law and the maps they drew four years ago, or they should finally work with Democrats to draw fair, independent congressional maps,' state Rep. Gene Wu, who chairs the Democratic caucus in the Texas House, said in a statement. 'Anything less is a desperate power grab from a party that knows Texas voters are ready to show them the door.' The White House did not respond to a CNN inquiry about the effort, which has been the subject of recent closed-door meetings in Washington among members of the state's congressional delegation. The state legislature, which finished its regular session earlier this month, is not scheduled to meet again until 2027. But Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has the authority to call special sessions and determine the issues lawmakers will address. Aides to the Texas governor did not respond to CNN inquiries. Last week, Abbott told reporters that he had not 'identified a need for a special session,' according to the Dallas Morning News. The governor, however, did not close the door on the possibility, saying he was reviewing bills from the regular legislative session that could result in vetoes that would require him to summon lawmakers back to Austin to address outstanding matters. Abbott also declined to tell journalists whether Trump had asked him to order a redraw. Ohio GOP looks for as many as three seats In Ohio, the mid-decade redrawing of its congressional districts is an outgrowth of a state law that requires maps approved without bipartisan support to be redrawn after four years. Crafting new maps for next year's midterms will ultimately fall to the Republican-controlled General Assembly. The current map, crafted by a GOP-led legislature in 2022, has 10 Republicans and five Democrats. Two Democratic incumbents are viewed as likely targets of the GOP: Reps. Marcy Kaptur, a veteran lawmaker who represents northwestern Ohio, and Emilia Skyes, whose district includes Akron. Last year, Kaptur eked out a win even as her district went for Trump. Skyes, meanwhile, represents a highly competitive district that former Vice President Kamala Harris barely won. If Republicans choose an even more aggressive approach, a third Democrat, Rep. Greg Landsman, who represents Cincinnati, could be endangered.
