A majority‑minority congressional district is a United States congressional district in which racial or ethnic minorities together make up more than half of the population. Some of these districts have been drawn to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits districting plans that dilute the ability of racial or language minorities to elect candidates of their choice.[1][2][3] However, not all majority‑minority districts are mandated by the Act; many result from demographic patterns or partisan considerations.[4]
As of the 119th Congress (2025), there are 120 majority‑minority congressional districts.[5] Only a fraction of these districts are mandated by the Voting Rights Act — about 30 to 40 nationwide — while the remainder are partisan‑constructed or demographic outcomes.[6][7]
The adoption of majority‑minority districts is contested both within and outside minority communities. Critics argue that such districts can dilute minority political power by “packing” voters into fewer districts, or that they resemble racial segregation. Supporters contend that they are necessary to ensure minorities can elect representatives and achieve descriptive representation in the House of Representatives.[citation needed]
Majority‑minority districts have been the subject of significant constitutional litigation, including Shaw v. Reno (1993), Miller v. Johnson (1995), and Bush v. Vera (1996), which examined the balance between Voting Rights Act compliance and constitutional limits on racial gerrymandering.[citation needed]
Notes:
- Estimates of VRA‑mandated districts vary because the determination depends on applying the Thornburg v. Gingles test (1986), which requires that a minority group be sufficiently large, geographically compact, politically cohesive, and consistently outvoted.[citation needed]
- Scholars and legal analysts generally place the number of mandated districts between 30 and 40 nationwide, with the remainder arising from partisan map‑drawing or demographic concentration.[8]
Section 2 requirements under the Voting Rights Act
Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act requires minority-opportunity districts in geographical areas in which minority voters would otherwise have "less opportunity than other members of the electorate ... to elect representatives of their choice."[9][10] In Thornburg v. Gingles (1986), the Supreme Court held that Section 2 may necessitate the creation of a majority-minority district when (a) the minority population is "sufficiently large and geographically compact" to form a district and (b) both the majority and minority populations are sufficiently politically polarized that the majority can vote "usually to defeat the minority's preferred candidate."[11]: 50–51
Bartlett v. Strickland (2009) clarified the Gingles interpretation of Section 2 by holding that the minority group must constitute "more than 50 percent of the voting-age population in the relevant geographic area."[12] Plaintiffs challenging a districting plan under Section 2 typically provide remedial maps in which the minority group composes a majority in the relevant district, such as in Allen v. Milligan (2023) where plaintiffs included "illustrative districting maps... which contained two majority-black districts that comported with traditional districting criteria."[13]
The Supreme Court has left unsettled the question of whether minority groups can be aggregated under Section 2 if they vote in coalition with one another, and federal circuit courts remain divided on the issue.[14]: 13–14 [15]: 11
Because of this jurisprudence on Section 2, federal law requires the existence of many of the current majority-minority congressional districts.
List of districts
/ African American majority/plurality
/ Asian American majority/plurality
/ Hispanic or Latino majority/plurality
White plurality
The following tables identify districts that are either required under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act or are otherwise drawn to be majority minority in accordance with traditional districting criteria or to gerrymander for partisan advantage. Voting-age population data in the tables below reflect 2020 census estimates for the 119th Congress. Members are accurate as of September 1, 2025.
African-American
Currently, there are 15 congressional districts where African Americans make up a majority of voting-age constituents and 14 other congressional districts where they make up a plurality. Most of these districts are located in the South and are represented by an African American member of congress. Democrats represent each of these districts.
| State | District | Member (119th Congress) | Afric. Amer. VAP[16][a] | Perc. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | MS-02 | Bennie Thompson | 355,293 | 62.1% |
| Tennessee | TN-09 | Steve Cohen[b] | 351,812 | 60.3% |
| Maryland | MD-04 | Glenn Ivey | 358,207 | 59.8% |
| Maryland | MD-07 | Kweisi Mfume | 334,297 | 54.7% |
| Louisiana | LA-06 | Cleo Fields | 318,011 | 54.0% |
| New Jersey | NJ-10 | LaMonica McIver | 315,201 | 52.7% |
| Illinois | IL-01 | Jonathan Jackson | 306,380 | 52.0% |
| Alabama | AL-07 | Terri Sewell | 295,119 | 51.9% |
| Georgia | GA-06 | Lucy McBath | 307,240 | 51.8% |
| Georgia | GA-13 | David Scott | 294,376 | 51.5% |
| Georgia | GA-05 | Nikema Williams | 313,396 | 51.1% |
| Louisiana | LA-02 | Troy Carter | 305,124 | 51.0% |
| Pennsylvania | PA-03 | Dwight Evans | 320,864 | 51.0% |
| Georgia | GA-04 | Hank Johnson | 294,887 | 50.6% |
| Florida | FL-20 | Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick | 298,383 | 50.1% |
| Georgia | GA-02 | Sanford Bishop | 289,612 | 49.3% |
| New York | NY-09 | Yvette Clarke | 294,000 | 48.9% |
| Alabama | AL-02 | Shomari Figures | 272,023 | 48.7% |
| Illinois | IL-02 | Robin Kelly | 280,964 | 48.4% |
| New York | NY-08 | Hakeem Jeffries | 297,616 | 48.2% |
| New York | NY-05 | Gregory Meeks | 291,168 | 47.2% |
| South Carolina | SC-06 | Jim Clyburn | 275,133 | 46.9% |
| Michigan | MI-13 | Shri Thanedar[b] | 277,723 | 46.9% |
| Missouri | MO-01 | Wesley Bell | 276,602 | 45.4% |
| Virginia | VA-03 | Bobby Scott | 278,424 | 45.4% |
| Illinois | IL-07 | Danny Davis | 261,207 | 43.0% |
| Florida | FL-24 | Frederica Wilson | 258,005 | 42.2% |
| Texas | TX-30 | Jasmine Crockett | 242,224 | 41.9% |
| Texas | TX-09 | Al Green | 218,536 | 38.6% |
- ^ "VAP" here refers to the voting-age population in a given district.
- ^ a b Representative is not African American.
Asian American
Currently, there are two congressional districts where Asian Americans make up a majority of voting-age constituents and six other congressional districts where they make up a plurality. Most of these districts are located in California and are represented by an Asian American member of congress. Democrats represent each of these districts.
| State | District | Member (119th Congress) | Asian Amer. VAP[16] | Perc. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | HI-01 | Ed Case[a] | 398,963 | 68.1% |
| California | CA-17 | Ro Khanna | 353,112 | 58.5% |
| New York | NY-06 | Grace Meng | 296,148 | 46.8% |
| Hawaii | HI-02 | Jill Tokuda | 247,592 | 43.4% |
| California | CA-45 | Derek Tran | 250,168 | 41.4% |
| California | CA-28 | Judy Chu | 256,185 | 41.4% |
| California | CA-14 | Eric Swalwell [a] | 241,806 | 40.8% |
| California | CA-15 | Kevin Mullin[a] | 241,550 | 39.6% |
- ^ a b c Representative is not Asian American.
Hispanic and Latino
Currently, there are 38 congressional districts where Hispanic or Latino Americans make up a majority of voting-age constituents and 9 other congressional districts where they make up a plurality. Most of these districts are represented by a Hispanic or Latino Democratic member of congress.
| State | District | Member (119th Congress) | Hispanic or Latino VAP[17] | Perc. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | TX-34 | Vicente Gonzalez | 480,322 | 88.5% |
| Texas | TX-16 | Veronica Escobar | 463,686 | 80.8% |
| Texas | TX-15 | Monica De La Cruz | 434,980 | 78.9% |
| Florida | FL-27 | María Elvira Salazar | 471,763 | 74.2% |
| Florida | FL-28 | Carlos Giménez | 446,828 | 73.4% |
| Florida | FL-26 | Mario Díaz-Balart | 456,512 | 73.2% |
| Texas | TX-28 | Henry Cuellar | 402,711 | 72.9% |
| Texas | TX-29 | Sylvia Garcia | 396,804 | 72.4% |
| California | CA-22 | David Valadao[a] | 376,448 | 69.3% |
| Texas | TX-20 | Joaquin Castro | 392,056 | 68.2% |
| Illinois | IL-04 | Chuy García | 356,197 | 63.2% |
| California | CA-34 | Jimmy Gomez | 376,198 | 61.6% |
| California | CA-35 | Norma Torres | 352,257 | 61.2% |
| California | CA-46 | Lou Correa | 354,631 | 61.2% |
| California | CA-29 | Luz Rivas | 362,530 | 61.1% |
| California | CA-42 | Robert Garcia | 358,174 | 61.1% |
| California | CA-18 | Zoe Lofgren[a] | 346,468 | 60.8% |
| California | CA-21 | Jim Costa[a] | 322,669 | 60.7% |
| California | CA-13 | Adam Gray[a] | 330,757 | 60.7% |
| California | CA-25 | Raul Ruiz | 345,745 | 60.4% |
| Texas | TX-23 | Tony Gonzales | 340,976 | 60.0% |
| California | CA-33 | Pete Aguilar | 324,616 | 58.7% |
| California | CA-39 | Mark Takano[a] | 328,249 | 58.5% |
| California | CA-38 | Linda Sanchez | 350,026 | 58.3% |
| Arizona | AZ-03 | Yassamin Ansari[a] | 330,596 | 58.2% |
| California | CA-44 | Nanette Barragan | 339,063 | 57.9% |
| California | CA-31 | Gil Cisneros | 342,496 | 57.4% |
| California | CA-52 | Juan Vargas | 331,832 | 57.2% |
| New Mexico | NM-02 | Gabe Vasquez | 299,999 | 56.1% |
| Arizona | AZ-07 | Adelita Grijalva | 333,554 | 55.5% |
| Texas | TX-33 | Marc Veasey[a] | 302,355 | 54.5% |
| California | CA-43 | Maxine Waters[a] | 307,997 | 54.1% |
| Texas | TX-35 | Greg Casar | 299,295 | 51.3% |
| New York | NY-15 | Ritchie Torres | 300,901 | 51.1% |
| New York | NY-14 | Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez | 308,929 | 50.5% |
| New York | NY-13 | Adriano Espaillat | 318,682 | 50.4% |
| California | CA-37 | Sydney Kamlager-Dove[a] | 298,131 | 50.3% |
| Florida | FL-09 | Darren Soto | 297,032 | 50.0% |
| Texas | TX-27 | Michael Cloud[a] | 292,191 | 49.9% |
| New Jersey | NJ-08 | Rob Menendez | 299,470 | 48.9% |
| Illinois | IL-03 | Delia Ramirez | 257,871 | 43.8% |
| Florida | FL-25 | Debbie Wasserman Schultz[a] | 256,630 | 42.3% |
| Texas | TX-18 | Vacant | 229,406 | 39.8% |
| New Mexico | NM-03 | Teresa Leger Fernandez | 214,599 | 39.7% |
| California | CA-27 | George T. Whitesides[a] | 224,434 | 39.2% |
| California | CA-09 | Josh Harder[a] | 211,242 | 37.6% |
| California | CA-08 | John Garamendi[a] | 185,553 | 31.5% |
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Representative is not Hispanic or Latino.
White plurality (majority-minority)
| State | District | Member (119th Congress) | White VAP[17] | Perc. | Largest Minority[16][17] | Largest Minority Perc.[16][17] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | MI-12 | Rashida Tlaib | 282,914 | 47.5% | Afric. Amer. | 45.7% |
| Ohio | OH-11 | Shontel Brown | 277,075 | 44.5% | Afric. Amer. | 44.3% |
| Maryland | MD-05 | Steny Hoyer | 272,785 | 45.7% | Afric. Amer. | 43.0% |
| Virginia | VA-04 | Jennifer McClellan | 284,553 | 45.2% | Afric. Amer. | 42.1% |
| North Carolina | NC-12 | Alma Adams | 229,032 | 39.5% | Afric. Amer. | 38.3% |
| Wisconsin | WI-04 | Gwen Moore | 262,604 | 47.1% | Afric. Amer. | 31.5% |
| Pennsylvania | PA-02 | Brendan Boyle | 244,883 | 41.3% | Afric. Amer. | 26.2% |
| Massachusetts | MA-07 | Ayanna Pressley | 275,583 | 42.2% | Afric. Amer. | 24.3% |
| Maryland | MD-08 | Jamie Raskin | 281,131 | 46.9% | Afric. Amer. | 18.2% |
| California | CA-11 | Nancy Pelosi | 296,850 | 44.6% | Asian Amer. | 34.2% |
| California | CA-16 | Sam Liccardo | 277,950 | 46.3% | Asian Amer. | 32.1% |
| Washington | WA-09 | Adam Smith | 267,554 | 44.4% | Asian Amer. | 26.7% |
| California | CA-07 | Doris Matsui | 204,018 | 35.0% | Asian Amer. | 26.0% |
| California | CA-12 | Lateefah Simon | 218,543 | 35.2% | Asian Amer. | 24.6% |
| New York | NY-10 | Dan Goldman | 314,959 | 49.7% | Asian Amer. | 23.9% |
| Nevada | NV-03 | Susie Lee | 290,359 | 47.1% | Asian Amer. | 20.8% |
| New Jersey | NJ-12 | Bonnie Watson Coleman | 263,386 | 43.5% | Asian Amer. | 19.5% |
| California | CA-26 | Julia Brownley | 271,460 | 46.2% | Hispanic/Latino | 39.1% |
| New Jersey | NJ-09 | Nellie Pou | 245,792 | 40.9% | Hispanic/Latino | 39.1% |
| New Mexico | NM-01 | Melanie Stansbury | 278,556 | 49.4% | Hispanic/Latino | 37.6% |
| California | CA-23 | Jay Obernolte | 251,946 | 44.1% | Hispanic/Latino | 37.4% |
| Texas | TX-11 | August Pfluger | 270,981 | 47.7% | Hispanic/Latino | 35.2% |
| New York | NY-07 | Nydia Velázquez | 229,017 | 36.8% | Hispanic/Latino | 35.0% |
| California | CA-41 | Ken Calvert | 286,078 | 48.2% | Hispanic/Latino | 34.2% |
| Texas | TX-32 | Julie Johnson | 214,855 | 36.2% | Hispanic/Latino | 32.6% |
| Nevada | NV-01 | Dina Titus | 263,524 | 43.9% | Hispanic/Latino | 32.2% |
| Nevada | NV-04 | Steven Horsford | 243,758 | 41.6% | Hispanic/Latino | 30.6% |
| Texas | TX-06 | Jake Ellzey | 279,352 | 48.8% | Hispanic/Latino | 30.2% |
| Texas | TX-08 | Morgan Luttrell | 276,028 | 48.8% | Hispanic/Latino | 29.7% |
| Florida | FL-10 | Maxwell Frost | 235,180 | 38.5% | Hispanic/Latino | 28.6% |
| Texas | TX-07 | Lizzie Fletcher | 179,683 | 30.2% | Hispanic/Latino | 28.3% |
| New York | NY-16 | George Latimer | 252,636 | 41.7% | Hispanic/Latino | 26.9% |
| Texas | TX-22 | Troy Nehls | 252,124 | 45.2% | Hispanic/Latino | 26.3% |
| Florida | FL-14 | Kathy Castor | 306,560 | 49.4% | Hispanic/Latino | 26.0% |
| California | CA-51 | Sara Jacobs | 294,681 | 48.6% | Hispanic/Latino | 22.6% |
| New Jersey | NJ-06 | Frank Pallone | 276,011 | 45.2% | Hispanic/Latino | 22.1% |
See also
References
- ^ "Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act". U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
- ^ "Redistricting Basics". Loyola Law School. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
- ^ "Redistricting and the Voting Rights Act". Brennan Center for Justice. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
- ^ "Redistricting Criteria". National Conference of State Legislatures. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
- ^ Congressional Redistricting: Key Legal and Policy Issues (PDF) (Report). Congressional Research Service. 2022.
- ^ Congressional Redistricting and the Voting Rights Act: A Legal Overview (PDF) (Report). Congressional Research Service. 2014.
- ^ Minority Representation: No Conflict with Fair Maps (Report). Brennan Center for Justice. 2017.
- ^ Pildes, Richard H. (1996). "The Politics of Race: Majority‑Minority Districts and the Voting Rights Act". Harvard Law Review: 250–300.
- ^ Voting Rights Act of 1965, Pub. L. 89–110
- ^ Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1982, Pub. L. 97–205
- ^ Thornburg v. Gingles, 478 U.S. 30 (1986)
- ^ Bartlett v. Strickland, 556 U.S. 1 (2009)
- ^ Allen v. Milligan, 599 U.S. 1 (2022)
- ^ Pope v. County of Albany, 11-3439 (2d Cir. 2012).
- ^ Petteway v. Galveston, 23-40582 (5th Cir. 2024).
- ^ a b c d "RACE FOR THE POPULATION 18 YEARS AND OVER". census.gov. U.S. Census Bureau.
- ^ a b c d "HISPANIC OR LATINO, AND NOT HISPANIC OR LATINO BY RACE FOR THE POPULATION 18 YEARS AND OVER". census.gov. U.S. Census Bureau.
External links
- Use of Racial Data in Redistricting - Background Paper Prepared for the Minnesota Legislature Subcommittee on Geographic Information Systems
- Majority-Minority Voting Districts and Their Role in Politics: Their Advantages, Their Drawbacks, and the Current Law
- Voting wrongs - racial reapportionment
- Race and Redistricting: The Shaw-Cromartie Cases
- The Electoral Competitiveness of Majority-Minority Districts
- Redrawing Lines of Power: Redistricting 2011 Making Contact, produced by the National Radio Project, April 12, 2011
