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 were drawn to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was previously believed to always prohibit districting plans that diluted the ability of racial or language minorities to elect candidates of their choice. However, in its Louisiana v. Callais decision in 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that no majority‑minority district is mandated by the Act. Many such districts result from demographic patterns or partisan considerations.

As of the 119th Congress (2025), there are 120 majority‑minority congressional districts. 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.

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.

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.

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. 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.

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."Voting Rights Act of 1965, Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1982, 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."Thornburg v. Gingles,

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."Bartlett v. Strickland, 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."Allen v. Milligan,

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.

Because of this jurisprudence on Section 2, federal law requires the existence of many of the current majority-minority congressional districts.

List of districts

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 As of 2026, there are 8 congressional districts where African Americans make up a majority of voting-age constituents and 19 other congressional districts where they make up a plurality. It has decreased primarily due to immigration from Latin America. 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 Perc. Mississippi MS-02 355,293 62.9% Tennessee TN-09 351,812 60.2% Maryland MD-04 358,207 55.2% Maryland MD-07 334,297 53.2% Louisiana LA-06 318,011 54.4% New Jersey NJ-10 315,201 48.5% Illinois IL-01 306,380 49.7% Alabama AL-07 295,119 52.5% Georgia GA-06 307,240 54.8% Georgia GA-13 Vacant 294,376 49.6% Georgia GA-05 313,396 49.8% Louisiana LA-02 305,124 50.4% Pennsylvania PA-03 320,864 49.9% Georgia GA-04 294,887 47.5% Florida FL-20 Vacant 298,383 49.1% Georgia GA-02 289,612 49.0% New York NY-09 294,000 40.6% Alabama AL-02 272,023 48.9% Illinois IL-02 280,964 49.5% New York NY-08 297,616 42.2% New York NY-05 291,168 40.2% South Carolina SC-06 275,133 46.8% Michigan MI-13 277,723 45.3% Missouri MO-01 276,602 46.1% Virginia VA-03 278,424 43.2% Illinois IL-07 261,207 42.8% Florida FL-24 258,005 39.8% Texas TX-30 242,224 40.0%

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 Perc. Hawaii HI-01 398,963 68.1% California CA-17 353,112 58.5% New York NY-06 296,148 46.8% Hawaii HI-02 247,592 43.4% California CA-45 250,168 41.4% California CA-28 256,185 41.4% California CA-15 241,550 39.6%

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 Perc. Texas TX-34 480,322 88.5% Texas TX-16 463,686 80.8% Texas TX-15 434,980 78.9% Florida FL-27 471,763 74.2% Florida FL-28 446,828 73.4% Florida FL-26 456,512 73.2% Texas TX-28 402,711 72.9% Texas TX-29 396,804 72.4% California CA-22 376,448 69.3% Texas TX-20 392,056 68.2% Illinois IL-04 356,197 63.2% California CA-34 376,198 61.6% California CA-35 352,257 61.2% California CA-46 354,631 61.2% California CA-29 362,530 61.1% California CA-42 358,174 61.1% California CA-18 346,468 60.8% California CA-21 322,669 60.7% California CA-13 330,757 60.7% California CA-25 345,745 60.4% Texas TX-23 Vacant 340,976 60.0% California CA-33 324,616 58.7% California CA-39 328,249 58.5% California CA-38 350,026 58.3% Arizona AZ-03 330,596 58.2% California CA-44 339,063 57.9% California CA-31 342,496 57.4% California CA-52 331,832 57.2% New Mexico NM-02 299,999 56.1% Arizona AZ-07 333,554 55.5% Texas TX-33 302,355 54.5% California CA-43 307,997 54.1% Texas TX-35 299,295 51.3% New York NY-15 300,901 51.1% New York NY-14 308,929 50.5% New York NY-13 318,682 50.4% California CA-37 298,131 50.3% Florida FL-09 297,032 50.0% Texas TX-27 292,191 49.9% New Jersey NJ-08 299,470 48.9% Illinois IL-03 257,871 43.8% Florida FL-25 256,630 42.3% Texas TX-18 229,406 39.8% New Mexico NM-03 214,599 39.7% California CA-27 224,434 39.2% California CA-09 211,242 37.6% California CA-08 185,553 31.5%

White plurality (majority-minority) State District Member (119th Congress) White VAP Perc. Largest Minority Largest Minority Perc. Michigan MI-12 282,914 47.5% Afric. Amer. 45.7% Ohio OH-11 277,075 44.5% Afric. Amer. 44.3% Maryland MD-05 272,785 45.7% Afric. Amer. 43.0% Virginia VA-04 284,553 45.2% Afric. Amer. 42.1% North Carolina NC-12 229,032 39.5% Afric. Amer. 38.3% Wisconsin WI-04 262,604 47.1% Afric. Amer. 31.5% Pennsylvania PA-02 244,883 41.3% Afric. Amer. 26.2% Massachusetts MA-07 275,583 42.2% Afric. Amer. 24.3% Maryland MD-08 281,131 46.9% Afric. Amer. 18.2% California CA-11 296,850 44.6% Asian Amer. 34.2% California CA-16 277,950 46.3% Asian Amer. 32.1% Washington WA-09 267,554 44.4% Asian Amer. 26.7% California CA-07 204,018 35.0% Asian Amer. 26.0% California CA-12 218,543 35.2% Asian Amer. 24.6% New York NY-10 314,959 49.7% Asian Amer. 23.9% Nevada NV-03 290,359 47.1% Asian Amer. 20.8% New Jersey NJ-12 263,386 43.5% Asian Amer. 19.5% California CA-26 271,460 46.2% Hispanic/Latino 39.1% New Jersey NJ-09 245,792 40.9% Hispanic/Latino 39.1% New Mexico NM-01 278,556 49.4% Hispanic/Latino 37.6% California CA-23 251,946 44.1% Hispanic/Latino 37.4% Texas TX-11 270,981 47.7% Hispanic/Latino 35.2% New York NY-07 229,017 36.8% Hispanic/Latino 35.0% California CA-41 286,078 48.2% Hispanic/Latino 34.2% Texas TX-32 214,855 36.2% Hispanic/Latino 32.6% Nevada NV-01 263,524 43.9% Hispanic/Latino 32.2% Nevada NV-04 243,758 41.6% Hispanic/Latino 30.6% Texas TX-06 279,352 48.8% Hispanic/Latino 30.2% Texas TX-08 276,028 48.8% Hispanic/Latino 29.7% Florida FL-10 235,180 38.5% Hispanic/Latino 28.6% Texas TX-07 179,683 30.2% Hispanic/Latino 28.3% New York NY-16 252,636 41.7% Hispanic/Latino 26.9% Texas TX-22 252,124 45.2% Hispanic/Latino 26.3% Florida FL-14 306,560 49.4% Hispanic/Latino 26.0% California CA-51 294,681 48.6% Hispanic/Latino 22.6% New Jersey NJ-06 276,011 45.2% Hispanic/Latino 22.1%

See also Majority minority Race in the United States

References

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

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