Candidates scramble after redistricting shakes up California congressional races

Two years after Huntington Beach residents voted in favor effectively ban pride flags Instead of being displayed on city property, the conservative coastal town could be represented by a gay member of Congress and outspoken critic of President Trump — Rep. Robert Garcia.

This twist of fate came after the unprecedented redrawing of California’s congressional districts in the middle of the last decade.

In November, voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 50 — Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to neutralize Republican gerrymandering in Texas — to help Democrats take control of the House in November and exert meaningful control over the Trump administration.

The political tremors triggered by the ballot measure have already reshaped California’s political landscape.

Veteran Republican Darrell Issa of north San Diego County, a constant thorn in President Obama’s butt, has called it quits. Northern California Rep. Kevin Kiley has ditched his GOP label to run as a political independent. And two Republican congressional incumbents find themselves in a political death match in a newly created district straddling Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

The new 42nd District remains anchored in Garcia’s home base of Long Beach. But under the new lines, it replaced communities in southeast Los Angeles, such as Downey and Bell Gardens, with the more MAGA-friendly towns of Huntington Beach and Newport Beach.

“I say that every time a district crosses the border between Los Angeles and Orange County, a Democrat takes his wings,” said Paul Mitchell, the redistricting expert who drew the new lines for Democrats. “Bringing the Long Beach district back to Huntington Beach meant you were giving Robert Garcia a community that, within his elected city council, was truly anathema to who he is as a person, being a gay member of Congress.”

This shift means Garcia’s district is moving to the right, with many more Republican voters, but still with a Democratic majority. Former Vice President Kamala Harris still would have won the new district in the 2024 presidential race by 13 points, making Democrats confident Garcia could still win.

As the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Garcia is poised to gain more power in opposing the Trump administration if historical precedent holds and Democrats win back the House majority in November.

Garcia was not available for an interview, but many of the new voters he will have to court are represented by Rep. Dave Min (D-Irvine), who won the closely divided Orange County seat in 2024 and now faces a slightly bluer voter base in his newly configured district.

“I have a lot of voters to run to,” said Min, who describes himself as “progressive for Orange County” because he cares about protecting civil rights but often aligns with law enforcement and small business interests.

“The message [to new voters] is that you may not always agree with me, but I will do my best to do what I say. I will fight to keep the promises I make, I will fight for the values ​​that are close to my heart. And I listen to my constituents,” he said, noting that he recently held his seventh town hall meeting since his election.

In a neighboring Orange County district, Republican Reps. Young Kim and Ken Calvert will fight for control of the region’s only safe Republican seat after Proposition 50. That district also crosses county lines — into Corona, Chino Hills and other parts of western Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Republicans may be dismayed to see the two popular party leaders face off in what promises to be a brutal and costly election.

“Republican primary voters are looking for how to distinguish between two votes of the same flavor,” said Rob Stutzman, a Republican political strategist. “Republican voters are going to like them both, so how do we make that judgment?”

“A lot of times it depends on who their friends are,” he said, noting that support from interest groups and other elected officials is typically more valuable in primaries than in general elections.

A handful of Democratic candidates have also declared themselves to run for that seat, which campaign strategists say could split the liberal vote and allow Calvert and Kim to advance to the general election.

Issa says goodbye, Kiley drops GOP label

Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Bonsall) listens to testimony during a House Oversight Committee hearing titled “Reviews of the Benghazi Attack and Unanswered Questions,” in the Rayburn House office building on Capitol Hill in 2013 in Washington.

(Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Issa’s decision to forgo re-election came as a surprise Friday, although speculation swirled about his future after the new congressional districts put him in a seat where Democratic voters outnumber Republicans. It’s a major downgrade from his current district, which engulfs right-wing eastern San Diego County as well as conservative pockets of Temecula and Murrieta.

“This decision has been on my mind for a while and I did not take it lightly,” Issa said in a statement. “But after a quarter century in Congress – and before that, a quarter century in business – it’s the right time to open a new chapter and new challenges.”

Democrats celebrated the departure of Issa, who helped finance the successful 2003 recall of Democratic California Gov. Gray Davis and led the congressional investigation into the 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi during the Obama administration.

“After more than two decades of disastrous representation, Darrell Issa is once again running for the exits — and good riddance,” said Anna Elsasser, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Several Democrats had already announced their intention to challenge Issa, including San Diego City Council member Marni Lynn von Wilpert.

Proposition 50 also split the sprawling district held by Kiley, a Rocklin Republican, into six pieces, leaving the Northern California congressman and frequent Newsom critic with few good options.

Over the next few months, Kiley posted on social media announcing — like on the dating show “The Bachelor” — where he would not run as long as it was just two districts: a safe Republican seat that would force Kiley into a primary with longtime Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Elk Grove) or a district with a 9-point Democratic registration advantage.

Kiley opted to avoid challenging McClintock and handed his final rose to the new 6th District with a twist: On Friday, the congressman announced he would run as an independent candidate rather than a Republican.

Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) in his office in Washington in 2025.

(Richard Pierrin / For time)

In a lengthy social media post accompanied by a video, Kiley said he had become “frustrated, sometimes disgusted, by the hyper-partisanship in Congress” and that he responded to voters, “not party leaders.”

But without a political party behind him, Kiley’s campaign is “entirely his burden,” said Republican strategist Matt Rexroad. “He won’t get the party’s approval. He’s really left to his own devices.”

Without a letter indicating a political party next to their name on the ballot, independent candidates have historically gotten lost in the fray.

Another candidate, a Christian author named Michael Stansfield, confirmed Friday that he had filed for the Republican seat, giving Kiley automatic competition for conservative votes.

Several Democrats have already announced campaigns for the seat — which combines conservative Sacramento suburbs with liberal-leaning ones closer to the capital — including former state Sen. Richard Pan of the Sacramento district. Atty. Thien Ho, West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero, and Lauren Babb, public affairs manager for Planned Parenthood clinics in California and Nevada.

The race could reignite a pandemic-era rivalry between Kiley and Pan, who fought over vaccines and public health rules while serving in the state Legislature.

New neighborhoods, new challengers

For some longtime Democrats like Rep. Brad Sherman, adding new Republican voters could help them fend off challenges from younger progressive candidates.

A half-dozen Democrats, mostly young progressives, have filed papers to challenge Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), 71, who has represented parts of the San Fernando Valley for nearly 30 years.

The 32nd District remains solidly blue after Proposition 50, but almost seven point swing to the right “makes it less likely that two Democrats go to the general, which makes it less likely that [Sherman] would be beaten,” Mitchell said.

It’s a similar story for Reps. Doris Matsui (Sacramento Democrat), Mike Thompson (St. Helena Democrat) and John Garamendi (Walnut Grove Democrat), all of whom are in their 70s and 80s and face younger, more progressive challengers.

Although winning over more conservative voters could help some incumbents avoid facing another Democrat in November, the threat of such a confrontation pushes them to be more active on the campaign trail, Rexroad said.

“You see more activity from Doris Matsui, Mike Thompson and John Garamendi following their challenge, because they like their seats and they would like to keep them,” Rexroad said.

Times staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this report.