After the Texas Legislature passed a controversial Republican-drawn congressional map in August, California lawmakers accused the GOP of trying to rig next year’s midterm elections and vowed to fight back, setting off a partisan redistricting war across the country.
Redistricting typically happens at the beginning of each decade after a new census, but Texas Republicans pushed ahead with redrawing the map much earlier, at the urging of President Donald Trump.
California’s Democratic-led Legislature promptly passed its own redrawn map to offset the additional five congressional seats the GOP is likely to seize as a result of the new Texas map.
So why is the issue going to California voters on Tuesday?
Unlike in Texas, California cannot create a new congressional map without initial voter approval. So Gov. Gavin Newsom called for a special election in which Californians will decide on a ballot proposition that will temporarily strip their independent redistricting commission of power, in favor of a constitutional amendment to allow the Legislature to employ new maps for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 election cycles.
Following Texas and California’s redistricting battle, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Utah passed their own maps that favor Republicans. Virginia lawmakers are pushing forward with a new map that favors Democrats.