Connecticut’s post-2020 congressional redistricting process was defined by missed legislative deadlines and court intervention. After the General Assembly failed to adopt a new congressional map by the September 15, 2021, constitutional deadline, authority passed to a backup nine-member Reapportionment Commission. The Commission was unable to meet its extended deadline, prompting the Connecticut Supreme Court to assume responsibility under the state constitution. The Court appointed Stanford law professor Nathaniel Persily as Special Master, instructing him to make only the minimal changes necessary to equalize population across the five congressional districts. On February 10, 2022, the Court formally adopted Persily’s map, which largely preserved existing district lines. In 2025, a group of voters filed a federal lawsuit challenging the map as a partisan gerrymander, but the case remains pending and is unlikely to proceed because of U.S. Supreme Court precedent that bars such claims in federal court.

By contrast, Connecticut’s state legislative redistricting process was completed within the state's constitutional framework. Although the legislature also missed its initial deadline for adopting House and Senate maps, the Reapportionment Commission successfully completed both plans by late November 2021. The state House map was approved on November 18 and the Senate map on November 23, both by unanimous votes. The final plans reflected population growth in areas such as Fairfield County and Stamford, but avoided significant political realignment. Notably, the 2021 cycle was the first in which Connecticut applied a new state law that ended prison gerrymandering by counting incarcerated individuals at their home addresses for redistricting purposes.

last updated: Jan 2026