"In what was probably California Governor Gavin Newsom's greatest political victory of the Trump 2.0 term, his Prop 50 measure to reconfigure California's congressional districts cruised to a dominant 65%-35% victory last month. That measure would effectively hand Democrats five more California seats in the US House of Representatives, a direct response to the Texas redistricting effort that gerrymandered five extra seats for Republicans in the House."
"Republicans claim the new voter-approved redistricting maps were drawn up to favor the influence of Hispanic voters. Trump's Justice Department has since joined in on the lawsuit. Race cannot be used as a proxy to advance political interests, but that is precisely what the California General Assembly did with Proposition 50 the recent ballot initiative that junked California's pre-existing electoral map in favor of a rush-job rejiggering of California's congressional district lines, the Republican lawsuit says, per the AP."
"The state's GOP announced they were filing a lawsuit to stop the California redistricting on the very day after Prop 50 passed. And the Associated Press reports that hearings started today at a federal court in Los Angeles, where a three-judge panel will ultimately rule on whether they will grant a restraining order to stop the redistricting before the December 19 filing deadline for candidates to run in the 2026 elections."
Voters approved Prop 50 by about 65% to 35%, reconfiguring California's congressional districts and likely adding five Democratic seats in the U.S. House. California Republicans filed a lawsuit the day after passage and hearings began in federal court in Los Angeles before a three-judge panel considering a restraining order to halt the new maps before the December 19, 2026 candidate filing deadline. Republicans argue the voter-approved maps were drawn to favor Hispanic influence and that race was used as a proxy to advance political interests. Trump's Justice Department has joined the lawsuit. Governor Newsom's team cites the Supreme Court's approval of Texas's map as precedent for lawfulness.
Read at sfist.com
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