By Rebecca St Fleur
Correspondent
The Supreme Court declined a challenge to California’s redrawn congressional map on Feb. 4, which was applied for by the state’s Republican Party in an emergency bid.
The new map adds up to five Democratic seats. The Supreme Court did not provide dissent or an explanation behind its choice.
“The decision was not entirely surprising, given the court signaled in a separate ruling related to the use of Texas’s new GOP-favored House map ahead of 2026 that both Texas and California had drawn their new set of congressional lines for partisan gain. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) called for the map after Texas Republicans began a mid-decade redistricting war by passing a new map that nets up to five GOP-leaning seats,” reports The Hill.
The difference between Texas and California is that the latter put the decision in the hands of voters, putting the proposition on the ballot during a special election last year. 65.4% of Californian voters voted in favor of it according to a breakdown by CalMatters.
The day following the election, California Republicans, supported by the Trump administration, sued. They argued that the maps are a racial gerrymander that violate both the 14th and 15th Amendments.
The Guardian confirms a statement from the chair of California’s Republican Party, Corrin Rankin: “California cannot create districts by race, and the state should not be allowed to lock in districts that break federal law,” she said. “Our emergency application asks the supreme court to put the brakes on Prop 50 now, before the Democrats try to run out the clock and force candidates and voters to live with unconstitutional congressional districts.”
Ahead of the midterms, Republicans harbor a small majority in the House of Representatives and Senate. The upcoming elections are a threat to keeping many of their congressional seats.
“Donald Trump said he was ‘entitled’ to five more Congressional seats in Texas. He started this redistricting war,” wrote Newsom in an official press release. “He lost, and he’ll lose again in November.”
Rob Bonta, California’s attorney general, continued on in the same statement: “President Trump told Governor Greg Abbott that Republicans were ‘entitled’ to five more Congressional seats, and Texas Republicans fell in line. In direct response, and for explicitly partisan reasons, Governor Gavin Newsom and our Legislature advanced Proposition 50, presented it to the voters, and Californians overwhelmingly supported it.”
Each with gerrymandered maps, Republicans and Democrats are poised to gain seats in November.
“The redistricting math is still fluid, but Republicans are expected to gain up to nine seats so far from redistricting, mandated and not, from new maps in Texas, Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina. Meanwhile, Democrats could be poised to gain at least six new seats between California and a court-ordered ruling in Utah,” The Hill reported.
