If Republicans win control of the House by just a handful of seats or less, they will owe their slim majority to the Republican-appointed justices on the Supreme Court. In a series of election law cases, including one yet to be decided, the court’s conservative justices authorized partisan gerrymandering and effectively gutted the Voting Rights Act’s protections against racially discriminatory redistricting. These decisions led directly to an increase in congressional districts gerrymandered to favor Republicans and decreased the number of Black-majority seats that would have favored Democrats following the 2020 census.

If Republicans win control of the House by just a handful of seats or less, they will owe their slim majority to the Republican-appointed justices on the Supreme Court. In a series of election law cases, including one yet to be decided, the court’s conservative justices authorized partisan gerrymandering and effectively gutted the Voting Rights Act’s protections against racially discriminatory redistricting. These decisions led directly to an increase in congressional districts gerrymandered to favor Republicans and decreased the number of Black-majority seats that would have favored Democrats following the 2020 census.

A divided Supreme Court tonight handed a partial victory to Republican legislators in North Carolina.