California voters approved new congressional district lines Tuesday, handing Democrats a victory in a state-by-state redistricting battle that will help determine which party wins control of the House in 2026 and thereby its power to block or advance President Donald Trump’s policies.
Approval of Proposition 50 gives Democrats the chance to pick up up to five additional seats, enough to slow the Texas Republican Party’s efforts to redraw its own maps to pick up five Republican seats at President Trump’s request. Texas’ move and California’s response have sparked a flurry of redistricting efforts across the country, with Republican states appearing to have an advantage. Deeply blue California is a great opportunity for Democrats to pick up seats.
Midterm elections typically punish the party in the White House, and Mr. Trump is fighting to preserve his party’s slim House majority. Republicans hold 219 seats and Democrats hold 213.
Tuesday’s results mark a political victory for Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has positioned the bill as an essential tool to push back against Trump and protect American democracy.
Bill supported by Newsom and President Obama
California’s Proposition 50 asked voters to suspend House maps drawn by an independent commission and replace them with redrawn districts adopted by the Democratic-controlled Legislature. These new districts will be established for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections.
The redistricting is aimed at weakening the power of Republican voters, in one case by consolidating rural, conservative-leaning areas in California’s far north with Marin County, a well-known liberal coastal stronghold just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.
Mr. Newsom spearheaded the bill, throwing the weight of his political campaign behind it as a key test of his mettle ahead of his 2028 presidential bid. Former President Barack Obama also called on voters to pass it.
Newsom painted the proposal as a total antidote to President Trump and sought to nationalize the campaign.
“Republicans are trying to rig the next election and steal enough seats to give them two more years of unchecked power,” President Obama said in one ad. “We can stop the Republican movement.”
Critics said two wrongs do not make a right. They appealed to Californians to reject the so-called Democratic power grab, even if they were concerned about President Trump’s moves in the Republican-led state.
Among the most prominent critics was Arnold Schwarzenegger, the movie star and former Republican governor who pushed for the creation of voter-approved independent commissions in 2008 and 2010. Schwarzenegger said in September that the proposal would “take power away from the people” and that it would be pointless to be Trump and fight him.
“I don’t want Newsom to take control,” said Rebecca Fleshman, 63, a former medical assistant from Norco in Southern California, who voted against the bill. “I don’t want the state to be blue. I want the state to be red.”
A biased election campaign foreshadowed the vote.
After a flood of early TV ads, opponents of the plan struggled to raise money in a state with some of the nation’s most expensive media markets. Data compiled last week by ad tracker AdImpact showed that Democrats and other allies have booked more than $5 million in ad buys across broadcast, cable and radio. But while the data didn’t include popular streaming services like Hulu or YouTube or email ads, opponents had virtually no time to spare.
The campaign took an unusual trajectory. Most of the few Republicans whose districts would be dramatically redistricted, putting their jobs at risk, avoided the campaign spotlight. Newsom and his supporters dominated television screens in the crucial final weeks as his opponents ran out of money.
Total spending on broadcast and cable advertising exceeded $100 million, more than two-thirds of which came from supporters. Newsom urged people to stop donating during the final weeks of the race.
Republicans (Representatives Ken Calvert, Darrell Issa, Kevin Kiley, David Valadao, and Doug LaMalfa) will see fewer right-leaning voters and more left-leaning voters in their districts, making it more likely that Democratic candidates will win each election.
Issa issued a defiant statement, saying, “I’m not going anywhere. I will continue to represent Californians, regardless of party or where they live. I’m not quitting California.”
Calvert said Newsom orchestrated a “power grab” as housing costs, gas prices and taxes continue to strain household budgets. “I am determined to continue fighting for the families I represent,” he said in an email.
Associated Press poll finds voters motivated by politics
Prop. 50 won a swift and decisive victory, as the Associated Press declared the winner once the statewide polls concluded. Early respondents strongly supported the bill, as did preliminary results from the AP Voter Poll, a large survey of more than 4,000 California voters.
About 7 in 10 California voters said partisan control of Congress was “very important” to them, and those voters overwhelmingly supported the measure, according to an Associated Press voter poll.
Approximately 8 in 10 California voters who supported the ballot measure said it was necessary to counter changes made by Republicans in other states, but only 2 in 10 said they supported it because it was the best way to draw maps, according to an AP voter poll.
Trump lost California overwhelmingly in his three presidential elections, but has largely stayed out of contention. A week before the election, he urged voters not to vote early or by mail in social media posts, a message that contradicted messages from the state’s Republican leaders who urged them to turn in their ballots as soon as possible.
In a Tuesday post on his social media platforms, the president called the state’s voting process “rigged” and warned: “A very serious legal and criminal review is underway. Stay tuned!” Secretary of State Shirley Weber criticized this as “another baseless claim.”
National House maps are in flux
Democrats hope to pick up as many as five seats in California if voters approve the new boundaries, offsetting the five seats Republicans are aiming to gain with the new Texas map. Republicans also expect to pick up one new seat each in Missouri and North Carolina, and potentially pick up two more seats in Ohio.
Congressional district lines are typically redrawn every 10 years to reflect population trends as recorded in the census. Redistricting in the middle of this decade is unusual unless there is a court order finding fault with the map preparation.
Five other Republican-led states are also considering new maps: Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana and Nebraska.
On the Democratic side, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, New York and Virginia have proposed redrawing the maps, but major hurdles remain.
The court ordered new boundaries to be drawn in Utah. All four Utah House districts are represented by Republicans, but it remains to be seen whether the state will approve maps that would allow Democrats to win any of them.
Siddhartha Deb, 52, has lived in the United States since he was seven years old but only became a citizen on Tuesday. Shortly after, he registered to vote at San Francisco City Hall and voted in favor of Newsom’s bill.
“I don’t like the way the Republicans are basically trying to rig the election by gerrymandering,” Deb said. “And that’s the only way to fight fire with fire.”
