Court upholds Proposition 50 map of districts

Judges reject idea that the new lines drawn to bolster Democrats were race-based.

- BY JENNY JARVIE

In a major victory for Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Democratic Party, a federal court in Los Angeles ruled Wednesday that California can use its newly configured congressional district boundaries for the 2026 midterm elections, increasing Democrats' odds of winning five additional U.S. House seats and seizing control of the chamber.

Attorneys for the GOP had sought to temporarily block California’s new map, arguing that the redrawn districts — placed on the ballot in November by the Democratic-led state Legislature as Proposition 50 — were unconstitutional because they illegally favored Latino voters.

But two judges in a three-judge panel rejected Republican arguments. The maps, they found, were engineered by Democrats to favor their party’s candidates and counter similar partisan gerrymandering from Texas and other GOP-led states.

“The evidence presented reflects that Proposition 50 was exactly what it was billed as: a political gerrymander designed to flip five Republican-held seats to the Democrats,” U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton wrote in an opinion.

Whatever the intent of those who drew up the maps, Staton added, “the voters are the most relevant state actors and their intent is paramount.”

Staton, who was appointed by President Obama, was joined by District Judge Wesley Hsu, an appointee of President Biden, Judge Kenneth K. Lee of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, an appointee of President Trump, dissented.

Lee argued that public comments made by Paul Mitchell, the redistricting expert who drew up the new California map, showed race was a key factor.

“The Democratic supermajority in the California state legislature wanted to curry favor with Latino groups and voters — and to prevent Latino voters from drifting away from the party,” Lee wrote in his dissent.

The California Republican Party said it would seek an emergency injunction from the U.S. Supreme Court.