California Democrats submitted their proposed congressional map to the state legislature on Friday, unveiling a plan designed to reshape the balance of power in Washington. The redrawn districts are projected to give Democrats five additional seats in Congress — offsetting the gains Texas Republicans are pursuing through their own redistricting efforts.
California currently has 52 congressional districts, with Democrats representing 43 and Republicans holding just 9.
The new map will go before voters in November. If approved, Republicans would be left with control of just four districts in the state — less than 8 percent of the state’s congressional delegation. California may be a deep-blue state, but Trump still won the support of nearly 40% of its voters in 2024.
In a statement accompanying the draft map, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Executive Director Julie Merz wrote:
We strongly believe that this map serves the best interest of California voters, while also attempting to push back against the corrupt scheme occurring in Texas and other Republican-majority states where Republicans – doing the bidding of their DC party bosses – are considering adopting a clearly racially gerrymandered, partisan map at the expense of their voters….Democrats cannot sit idly by while Texas Republicans and their DC party bosses attempt to steal congressional seats and rig the election in their favor, well before any votes have been cast. Unlike what Texas Republicans are attempting to do in letting politicians choose their own voters, we believe that voters should be able to decide who represents them.
KCRA-TV reported that the redraw targets the following five Republican-held districts: District 1 (Rep. Doug LaMalfa), District 3 (Rep. Kevin Kiley), District 22 (Rep. David Valadao), District 41 (Rep. Ken Calvert), and District 48 (Rep. Darrell Issa).
The new map faces several significant headwinds. First, California voters took redistricting authority out of politicians’ hands with Proposition 11 in 2008 and Proposition 20 in 2010, creating the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (ICRC). The reforms stripped the legislature of its power to draw districts and handed it to the commission instead.
On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that California will hold a Nov. 4 special election, asking voters to temporarily return redistricting authority to the legislature for the 2026, 2028, and 2030 election cycles, after which control would revert to the ICRC. The proposed constitutional amendment is titled the Election Rigging Response Act.
The amendment contains a “trigger clause” that would void the measure if Texas were to withdraw its redistricting plans.
But a POLITICO-Citrin Center-Possibility Lab poll of California voters released on Thursday found that “strong majorities in both parties prefer an independent panel draw the House district lines.” Respondents favored keeping the ICRC in charge of congressional redistricting by a “nearly two-to-one margin.” Only 36% of those surveyed support returning redistricting authority to state lawmakers.
Pollster Jack Citrin was not surprised by those results. He pointed out, “California has voted twice for this independent review commission not all that long ago. And there’s a lot of mistrust and cynicism about politicians and the Legislature. That’s reflected here as well.”
Second, the “California Supreme Court has interpreted the state Constitution to prohibit redrawing congressional districts between the decennial census, a process known as mid-decade redistricting.”
[Note: Under the Texas Constitution, mid-decade redistricting is allowed.]
The state legislature faces an August 22 deadline to approve the measure, but with Democrats holding supermajorities in both chambers, passage is expected.
National Republican Campaign Committee Chair Richard Hudson responded to the new map in a statement.
Gavin Newsom failed to solve the homelessness, crime, drug, and cost epidemics plaguing the Golden State. Now he is shredding California’s Constitution and disenfranchising voters to prop up his Presidential ambitions. The NRCC is prepared to fight this illegal power grab in the courts and at the ballot box to stop Newsom in his tracks.
According to Politico, “opposition is already forming, including from Arnold Schwarzenegger, the politically moderate former GOP governor who championed the voter-approved commission and has vowed to ‘terminate’ gerrymandering.”
Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy is spearheading a Republican campaign to oppose the redraw as well.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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