California voters approved new congressional district boundaries on Tuesday, November 4, delivering a victory for Democrats in the state-by-state redistricting battle that will help determine which party wins control of the US House in 2026 and, with it, the power to thwart or advance President Donald Trump’s agenda.
The approval of Proposition 50 gives Democrats a shot at winning as many as five additional seats, just enough to blunt Texas Republicans’ move to redraw their own maps to pick up five GOP seats at Trump’s urging. Texas’ move and California’s response have kicked off a flurry of redistricting efforts around the country, with Republican states appearing to have an edge. Deeply blue California is Democrats’ best opportunity to make up seats.
Midterm elections typically punish the party in the White House, and Trump is fighting to maintain his party’s slim House majority. Republicans hold 219 seats to Democrats’ 213. Tuesday’s results mark a political victory for Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, who cast the measure as an essential tool to fight back against Trump and protect American democracy.
California’s Proposition 50 asked voters to suspend House maps drawn by an independent commission and replace them with rejiggered districts adopted by the Democratic-controlled Legislature. Those new districts would be in place for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections.
The recast districts aim to dilute Republican voters’ power, in one case by uniting rural, conservative-leaning parts of far northern California with Marin County, a famously liberal coastal stronghold across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.
The measure was spearheaded by Newsom, who threw the weight of his political operation behind it in a major test of his mettle ahead of a potential 2028 presidential campaign. Former President Barack Obama urged voters to pass it as well.
‘Stop Republicans in their tracks’
Newsom sought to nationalize the campaign, depicting the proposal as a counterweight to all things Trump.
«Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress to rig the next election and wield unchecked power for two more years,» Obama says in one ad. «You can stop Republicans in their tracks.»
Critics said two wrongs don’t make a right. They urged Californians to reject what they call a Democratic power grab, even if they have misgivings about Trump’s moves in Republican-led states.
Among the most prominent critics was Arnold Schwarzenegger, the movie star and former Republican governor who pushed for the creation of the independent commission, which voters approved in 2008 and 2010. It makes no sense to fight Trump by becoming him, Schwarzenegger said in September, arguing that the proposal would «take the power away from the people.»
In a post Tuesday on his social media platform, the president called the state’s voting process «RIGGED» and warned that it was «under very serious legal and criminal review. STAY TUNED!» Secretary of State Shirley Weber called it «another baseless claim.»
Congressional district boundaries are typically redrawn every 10 years to reflect population shifts documented in the census. Mid-decade redistricting is unusual, absent a court order finding fault with the maps in place.
Five other GOP-led states are also considering new maps: Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana and Nebraska.
