David Crane/The Orange County Register via AP, File
California voters approved Prop 50 on Tuesday night in a move that will allow the Democratic-controlled legislature to redraw the state’s congressional districts, multiple news outlets projected immediately after polls closed. The state uses an independent redistricting commission to draw its maps, but Prop 50 allows lawmakers to bypass it to draw their own.
Governor Gavin Newsom (D) led the charge on the initiative after Republicans in Texas enacted a rare mid-decade redistricting that could result in five additional seats for Republicans. The proposed California map is drawn in a way that could potentially result in Democrats flipping five seats in the 2026 midterms.
As Cal Matters reported, the proposed map would create some unusual districts and could end up pitting some Republicans against each other:
Under the new maps, some disparate parts of the state get lumped together, such as a wacky shaped district in the North State that combines rural and conservative Modoc County with the ultra-liberal Bay Area in Marin County. The city of Huntington Beach, a conservative stronghold in Orange County that banned the LGBTQ pride flag on city property, would be represented by a progressive, gay Peruvian immigrant, the top Democrat on the U.S. House’s primary investigative committee.
And a game of musical chairs in San Diego and Riverside counties could pit longtime Republican members of Congress against one another as the number of winnable GOP seats shrinks. Several salivating Democrats have already declared they will run in the newly formed, Democratic-friendly 48th Congressional District, which Republican Rep. Darrell Issa currently represents.
The 2026 midterms are beginning to take center stage, as Republicans hold a narrow six-vote majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. Republicans will aim to maintain their control of the chamber despite facing the historical headwinds the incumbent president’s party faces in midterms. GOP-controlled legislatures in Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio have also redrawn their maps. Meanwhile, Maryland Governor Wes Moore (D) announced the creation of a new redistricting commission on Tuesday. Moore and Newsom are widely regarded as potential Democratic candidates for president in 2028.
