An analysis of the states that have redrawn congressional districts for partisan advantage found that Republicans are winning the battle.

CBS News elections analyst Anthony Salvanto looked at the midterm elections map with Crystal Ball managing editor Kyle Kondik on Tuesday.

‘My best guess … is a Republican gain of seven seats, but there’s a range on that. It could be a little lower, it could be a lot higher than that.’

Texas, Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Missouri have redistricted in favor of Republicans and garnered the party between 10 and 16 extra seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Democrats have only been able to gain seats in California and Utah, for a possible gain between four and six seats, according to the analysis.

Overall, Republicans could have as many as 12 extra seats, while Democrats could only whittle down the advantage to four for the Republicans if everything went their way.

In addition, there are three states where efforts are pending and Republicans could pick up more seats. Those are Alabama, Louisiana, and South Carolina.

“The argument sort of goes back and forth. Is it maybe nine seats? Is it maybe six seats when this all nets out?” Salvanto said.

According to their analysis, there are only about 16 actual toss-up seats to be determined, and Republicans have an estimated 211 to 208 seat advantage. Whichever party gets to 218 seats will determine control of the House.

“Obviously we got to have the election first to determine what the actual effect of the redistricting was,” Kondik responded. “My best guess … is a Republican gain of seven seats, but there’s a range on that. It could be a little lower, it could be a lot higher than that.”

Salvanto pointed out one possible weakness for Republicans were Hispanics in Texas districts who had moved to the Republican Party in 2024 but may not show up in as significant numbers for the midterms.

RELATED: Utah Supreme Court justice abruptly RESIGNS after accusation involving redistricting attorney

“Just because you change a map to benefit yourself, it’s not necessarily gonna do that,” Kondik added.

“I would specifically look at the Republican redraws because 2026 is gonna stress test those maps in a way that they won’t necessarily be tested for Democrats because this is probably gonna be a Democratic-leaning year.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Control of house, Midterm elections, Redistricting, Republicans, Politics 

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has identified 12 possible future outcomes of artificial intelligence — ranging from a perfect utopia to complete human extinction.

BlazeTV host Pat Gray enjoys some of them, while others are deeply unsettling.

“The libertarian utopia: AI brings prosperity and AI-driven automation replaces most human jobs. The AI is vastly more intelligent but does not interfere with humans, leaving them to co-exist in separate zones,” Gray reads.

“The egalitarian utopia,” he continues reading, “AI and robotics lead to extreme abundance. Ownership becomes obsolete because robots produce everything needed, and resources are essentially free.”

“That’s like a ‘Star Trek’ outcome,” he adds.

The next is the “benevolent dictator possibility.”

“A super intelligent AI runs the world, making decisions that are 0% corrupt and perfectly fair,” Gray says, noting that the “first three are pretty decent options.”

However, after those three, the AI starts to get a little more controlling.

“The gatekeeper: A single all-powerful AI controls all technology and prevents humans from developing any other dangerous technologies, ensuring safety at the cost of freedom,” Gray explains, before moving on to the “protector god.”

This AI is “developed specifically to defend humanity, acting as an omnipotent guardian against existential threats.”

One concerning option is the “zookeeper option,” which keeps humans in “a protected, comfortable state similar to a nature reserve.”

Even scarier is the “1984 surveillance state possibility.”

This AI would “create an inescapable totalitarian surveillance state where every action is monitored and dissent is impossible.”

“We’re almost there now,” Gray says, before moving on to the “cyborg enhancement path,” which involves humans integrating “AI directly into their bodies and minds.”

The “self-preservation replacement scenario” follows, where “AI is developed, but its goals diverge from humanity’s, leading to the eradication of humans.”

“Not out of malice, but because humans are in the way of its goals,” Gray says. “Man, I could see that happening.”

Then there is the “apocalyptic future,” which features a “poorly designed super intelligent AI” breaking free and “destroying civilization,” and “the boredom scenario,” where “AI does everything so well that humans lose their sense of purpose.”

The final scenario is the “oops scenario,” where “humans try to create a controlled AI but fail, creating something they cannot understand or control, leading to unpredictable, potentially catastrophic results.”

“So,” Gray says, “there’s a few.”

Want more from Pat Gray?

To enjoy more of Pat’s biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Blaze media, Blaze news, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Blaze podcast network, Blaze podcasts, Blazetv, Blazetv host, Pat gray unleashed, Surveillance state, The blaze, Artificial intelligence, Mit, Human extinction 

A former pastor known for leading a gay conversion therapy ministry was caught trying to meet what he thought was an underage boy for sex, according to Florida police.

Alan Chambers, 54, allegedly sent lewd messages including sexual photographs to an undercover police officer he believed to be a 14-year-old child.

He apologized to the gay community for ‘years of undue suffering and judgment at the hands of the organization and the church as a whole.’

Prosecutors say Chambers sent the sexually explicit messages via Telegram and Snapchat between February and May while trying to arrange a meetup with the fake underage child.

Chambers allegedly talked about “forbidden love” and sent a photograph that showed a “white [male’s] torso laying in bed where the end of their penis was visible.”

The detective pretending to be a boy said that on April 10, Chambers asked him to take an Uber and meet with him. He also allegedly deleted many of the messages out of fear of getting in trouble.

Chambers made headlines in 2013 when he turned against conversion therapy after admitting that he was attracted to men despite being married to a woman. He also shut down the conversion ministry and said he was going to work to build bridges between Christians and gay people.

He apologized to the gay community for “years of undue suffering and judgment at the hands of the organization and the church as a whole” and said his new ministry would have “peace to be at the forefront of anything we do in the future.”

RELATED: Memphis pastor charged with trafficking and sexual exploitation of a minor — after different pastor at same church convicted

Chambers was arrested on Tuesday during a traffic stop at Aloma Avenue and Strathy Lane.

The man was booked on charges of solicitation of a minor, transmission of harmful material to a minor, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device.

His bond was set at $15,000, and he was ordered to not have any communication with anyone under the age of 18 years old.

“Today our detectives stopped a predator before he had the chance to harm a child. … Parents, please monitor your children’s internet and social media activity — you are the first line of defense,” reads a statement from the Orange County Sheriff’s office.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Child sex sting, Solicitation of a minor, Undercover police officer, Politics, Lgbtq 

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos ripped into many of the policies on the left in a recent interview that was clipped widely on social media.

Bezos took aim at schemes to raise taxes on the wealthy and advocated lower taxes on Americans at the bottom of the economic ladder. He made the comments from the factory floor of his Blue Origin aerospace company during an interview on “Squawk Box” with CNBC host Andrew Ross Sorkin released Wednesday.

‘We shouldn’t be asking this nurse in Queens to send money to Washington. They should be sending her an apology!’

When pressed on the issue of taxes, Bezos said half of Americans shouldn’t pay federal income taxes at all. He cited the example of a theoretical nurse in Queens who earns $75,000 a year and pays about $12,000 in federal income taxes.

“People talk about making the tax system more progressive. How about we start by having the nurse in Queens not pay taxes? At all,” he said.

“Why is a nurse in Queens who makes $75,000 a year paying more than $1,000 a month in taxes? That’s $1,000 a month that could help with rent or groceries or anything. And by the way, do you know what that all adds up to? The bottom half of income earners in this country pay only 3% of the taxes,” Bezos added.

“It’s only 3%. We can find 3%. It’s a small amount of money for the government,” he continued. “And the more I thought about it, to me it’s kind of absurd that we’re doing this. You know, we shouldn’t be asking this nurse in Queens to send money to Washington. They should be sending her an apology! It really makes no sense!”

Bezos said it was fine to debate what the wealthy should pay in taxes but went on to accuse politicians of distracting voters by vilifying the wealthy. He added that politicians were ignoring the root problems causing inflation and other economic problems.

“If you’re really being honest about it, we don’t have a revenue problem in this country. We already have the most progressive tax system in the world,” Bezos said. “The top 1% of taxpayers pay 40% of all tax revenue, the bottom half pay only 3%, and I think it should be zero.”

“We actually have a spending problem,” he added and cited the $44,000 that is spent on every child in the New York City school system with worse outcomes than other cities.

“If we ran Amazon the way New York City runs their school system,” Bezos joked, “packages would take six weeks to arrive, we would charge you a $100 delivery fee, and when the package did finally arrive, it would have the wrong item in it!”

Sorkin didn’t laugh.

“That’s a skills issue!” Bezos added. “It’s just competence.”

RELATED: Leftists lose their minds after Jeff Bezos announces new direction for WaPo in favor of freedom

Bezos also argued that the government could double the taxes he pays and it wouldn’t help the theoretical nurse in Queens because government spending is so out of control.

“You can’t connect those two things, not logically,” he said.

The entire segment on taxes with Bezos can be viewed on CNBC’s YouTube channel.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Federal income taxes, Government spending, Jeff bezos, New york city, Politics, Tax system