Governor Gavin Newsom and the Democrats utilized strategy leading up to the passing of Prop 50 last year, which redrew California’s congressional map, allowing Democrats to gain more GOP control of California.
The Republicans tried to get it repealed in court but lost 2-1 in the ruling. “Republicans’ weak attempt to silence voters failed,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “California voters overwhelmingly supported Prop 50 – to respond to Trump’s rigging in Texas – and that is exactly what this court concluded.”
With the midterm elections this year, Democrats are in a prime position to maintain control of the state and continue to be a sore thorn in Donald Trump’s side. The case was heard by two Los Angeles-based district judges, Josephine Staton and Wesley Hsu, as well as Judge Kenneth K. Lee, who serves on the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals. Staton was appointed by former President Barack Obama, Hsu by former President Joe Biden, and Lee by Trump. Lee cast the dissenting vote.
Writing for the majority, Staton said there was no evidence that the new districts were racially gerrymandered.
“Our conclusion probably seems obvious to anyone who followed the news in the summer and fall of 2025,” she said in the ruling, noting that the stated goal of the new maps was “to counter the actions of Texas and pick up an additional five Democratic seats. The new map drawn by a private consultant, paid for by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and incorporated into Proposition 50, met that goal exactly.”
Last year, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill enacting a new congressional map that shifted five Democratic districts toward Republicans ahead of the 2026 elections.
President Donald Trump urged Texas Republicans to redraw the state’s congressional district boundaries to help retain the Republican U.S. House majority in the 2026 U.S. House elections.
Ahead of the redistricting effort, Republicans represented 25 of Texas’s 38 congressional districts. Democrats represented twelve, and the 18th District seat was vacant following the death of Sylvester Turner in March 2025.
On August 20, 2025, the Texas House voted 88-52 along party lines to approve a bill proposing a new congressional map. The Texas Senate voted 18-11 along party lines to approve the new congressional district boundaries.
