California voters on Tuesday endorsed a gambit to counter partisan gerrymandering by Republicans in Texas with a new congressional map designed to make it easier for Democrats to flip five GOP-held seats and boost their odds of holding several swing districts.
The Associated Press called the election for the “yes” side on the ballot measure known as Proposition 50 right after polls closed at 8 p.m. Pacific time and before any vote totals were reported.
Prop 50 amends the state constitution to allow the temporary use of a new Democrat-drawn congressional map. That’s a change from the state’s typical process, which relies on an independent citizens commission to draw district lines. The measure stipulates that the new map will remain in place only through 2030, or for the next three election cycles.
“California voters have sent a strong and clear message that they will not stand by while Republicans try to rig the 2026 election,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Suzan DelBene of Washington said in a statement Tuesday. “Proposition 50 is a victory for free and fair elections and every Californian who believes their voice should be heard and their vote should count.”
California’s redistricting effort is part of a larger national drive by both political parties to eke out a few more competitive seats in a closely divided House, where Republicans have a threadbare majority to defend in the 2026 midterm elections.
Republicans began the fight this summer after President Donald Trump urged Texas to redraw its congressional map to boost the GOP’s odds of winning five additional House seats. State legislators duly complied. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats in the state Legislature responded by crafting a gerrymandered map of their own.
Since then, GOP-led Missouri and North Carolina have also completed mid-decade redraws that could help Republicans collectively pick up a further two seats. Redistricting efforts are also pending in other states, including Indiana, Virginia and Maryland.
Ohio approved a new map last week, but unlike the other states, it was required to do so: Under state law, its current map could only be used for two cycles because it had not been approved in a bipartisan manner.
California’s House delegation has 43 Democrats and nine Republicans. Five of those GOP members will now become newly vulnerable under the redrawn map, though the head of House Republicans’ campaign arm said his party had chances to make gains of their own in California.
“Even under this new map, Republicans have clear opportunities to flip seats because Californians are fed up with Democrat chaos,” National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Richard Hudson of North Carolina said in a statement Tuesday.
California’s 1st District, represented by Rep. Doug LaMalfa, currently includes a group of deep-red counties in the state’s northeastern corner. Trump carried the district by 25 points last fall, but under the proposed lines, Kamala Harris would have carried the 1st by 12 points, according to Inside Elections.
The 3rd District, which runs along the Nevada border and is held by Rep. Kevin Kiley, goes from a district that backed Trump by 4 points to one that Harris would have carried by 10.
In Southern California, the Democratic gerrymander targets two incumbents. It would completely remake the 41st District in Riverside County, held by the longest-serving Republican member of the delegation, Ken Calvert. The seat would move from one Trump carried by 6 points to one that would have supported Harris by 12.
And the 48th District, currently held by Republican Darrell Issa, would shift from one that backed Trump by 15 points to one that Harris would have carried by 3, with the addition of heavily Democratic sections of Palm Springs and San Diego.
The proposed redraw also colors the 22nd District, a perennial battleground seat in the Central Valley, slightly bluer. Republican incumbent David Valadao would see Trump’s winning margin in his district drop from 6 points to 2 points.
On the Democratic side, the new map would significantly reshape several battleground districts, making it easier for the incumbents to win reelection. Those lawmakers include Reps. Josh Harder in the 9th District, Adam Gray in the 13th, George Whitesides in the 27th, Dave Min in the 47th and Mike Levin in the 49th.
Niels Lesniewski contributed to this report.
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