In a win for Democrats, court allows California’s redistricting plan to proceed : NPR

Attorney Mark Meuser, second from right, speaks to reporters at a news conference announcing a November federal lawsuit challenging Proposition 50, in Sacramento, California.

Godofredo A. Vasquez/AP

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Godofredo A. Vasquez/AP

A federal court upheld the new congressional map approved by California voters last month, giving Democrats a chance to counter the national redistricting effort led by President Trump and his Republican allies.

The legal challenge to the redistricting plan was brought by the California Republican Party and the U.S. Department of Justice. The court found that the new district map did not violate laws against racial gerrymandering.

Republicans argued that the new map was motivated by a desire to increase Latino voting power. The court, in a two-to-one decision, rejected that claim, pointing out that voters approved the measure, called “Proposition 50,” and that there was no evidence that they acted on racial grounds.

“The evidence presented shows that Proposition 50 was exactly what it was presented as: a political gerrymander designed to flip five Republican-held seats to the Democrats,” U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton wrote in the majority opinion.

The court denied the Republican plaintiffs’ request that the court issue an injunction blocking redistricting as the case heads toward a final judgment. The Republicans could still appeal this decision.

Usually, states are redistricted at the beginning of the decade following the decennial census. But Trump triggered a mid-decade redistricting race as he tries to stop Democrats from taking control of the House. This summer, he pushed Texas Republicans to redraw that state’s districts, potentially helping the GOP gain five House seats in 2026. Missouri and North Carolina each redistricted to help the GOP gain a seat.

After Texas’ redistricting, California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, pledged to respond by redrawing his state’s map. At his request, lawmakers put the question on the ballot and California voters approved a redistricting plan there, during a special election on November 4. This measure passed with 64 percent of the vote.

For Democrats, it’s about confronting Trump

For Democrats who supported California’s redistricting measure, it wasn’t so much a redrawing of lines as an ideological battle. Supporters of the project largely saw it as an opportunity for the blue state to fight back against the Trump administration. Newsom argued that this approach was necessary to counter GOP-led redistricting efforts in Texas, “fight fire with fire” and boost Democrats’ chances ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

The Republican-led lawsuit against the measure claimed it violated the law by disproportionately giving the state’s Latino voters a stronger voice compared to other racial voting blocs.

In a dissenting opinion, Judge Kenneth Lee, appointed by President Trump in 2018, said the map’s designer, hired by Democrats, publicly stated that it was intended to increase Latino voting power.

“The large Democratic majority in the California state legislature wanted to curry favor with Latino groups and voters – and prevent Latino voters from drifting away from the party,” Lee wrote.

The majority decision rejected this argument, finding that it was not the cartographer or even the legislature who held the decision-making power, but rather the voters over the proposal and that it was debated by supporters and opponents as a partisan move.

In her opinion, Staton, appointed to the bench by President Obama, found a “mountain of evidence produced by defendants that voters intended to enact a partisan gerrymander.”

“Republicans’ feeble attempt to silence voters has failed,” Newsom wrote in a statement. “California voters overwhelmingly supported Proposition 50 – to address Trump’s manipulations in Texas – and that is exactly what this court concluded.”

Overall, the redistricting race is close, with Republicans on track to gain a few more seats than Democrats. Indiana Republicans refused to follow Trump’s lead last month and redistrict their district there. But Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has vowed to lead his state by drawing a new map that will favor the GOP.

Meanwhile, Virginia Democrats have begun the redistricting process to favor their party in that state. Currently, the House has 218 Republicans and 213 Democrats and if Democrats take control, they could slow down Trump’s agenda or launch investigations into his administration.

Laura Fitzgerald covers California politics for CapRadio. Larry Kaplow is with NPR.