Proposition 50 Redistricting Faces Legal Challenges

CALIFORNIA — California voters approved Proposition 50 on November 4, 2025, with more than 60 percent support. The measure authorizes a mid-decade redrawing of the state’s 52 congressional districts, with the new boundaries designed to benefit Democrats in the 2026 midterm elections. Lawmakers and Governor Gavin Newsom presented the changes as a counter to Republican-led redistricting in other states. However, the maps now confront legal opposition in federal court. A three-judge federal panel halted a related effort in Texas to redraw districts on November 18, though state officials have appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The California Republican Party launched a federal lawsuit the day after the election, on November 5. Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the suit accuses the new maps of racial gerrymandering. According to the complaint, mapmakers sorted voters by race to enhance Latino voting influence, weakening the voice of non-Latino voters absent strong evidence of necessity. Supreme Court rulings, such as Shaw v. Reno (1993), establish that racial considerations cannot serve as the predominant factor in drawing district lines.

The federal executive branch became involved on November 13, when the U.S. Department of Justice joined the case as a plaintiff. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who leads the department, described the maps as “openly gerrymandering by race” and labeled them a danger to equitable elections. In response, Governor Newsom’s press office issued a statement that read, “These losers lost at the ballot box and soon they will also lose in court.”

U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley of District 3 faces direct consequences from the redrawn boundaries, which place his Rocklin home in a reconfigured seat now leaning Democratic. Kiley has indicated that he plans to proceed under the assumption that the new maps will govern the 2026 races. At the same time, he continues advocating for a vote on H.R. 4889, a federal bill he introduced in August to ban mid-decade congressional redistricting nationwide.

The suit against California’s maps lingers in its initial pretrial stage, with a three-judge panel now overseeing proceedings. That panel held a status conference on November 25 to refine the schedule. An evidentiary hearing on December 15 will address the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction, which could prevent the new districts from applying to next year’s elections.