Democrats unveil maps of California’s redistricting proposal

Democrats unveiled a proposal Friday that could give California’s dominant political party an additional five U.S. House seats in a bid to win the fight to control Congress next year.

The plan calls for an unusually timed reshaping of House district lines to greatly strengthen the Democratic advantage in the state ahead of midterm elections, when Republicans will be defending the party’s fragile House majority.

It amounts to a counterpunch to the Texas Republicans’ plan to take five Democratically held seats and redraw them to favor the GOP at the urging of President Trump as he tries to avoid losing control of Congress and, with it, prospects for his conservative agenda in the later part of his term.

The California effort seeks to take five of the state’s nine GOP districts and make them more favorable to Democrats. Just like in Texas, however, it is by no means a guarantee that Democrats would win all five of these seats if a new California map becomes law.   

Making the shift would likely require an amendment to California’s state Constitution. Overhauling the current map that is in law would need to be passed by a two-thirds vote in both the state Assembly and state Senate, and then be approved by California voters in an election. 

California lawmakers are scheduled to return to Sacramento on Aug. 18 amid the redistricting talk. The California State Legislature will have a short time span to move forward.

If approved by voters in a special election this November, the California blueprint could nearly erase Republican House members in the nation’s most populous state. The Democratic plan is intended to win the party 48 of its 52 U.S. House seats, up from 43 currently.

The proposal was released by the campaign arm of House Democrats, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Democrats in the state Legislature will hold hearings and plan to vote on the new maps next week.

“This is about more than drawing lines on a map. It’s about drawing a line in the sand to stop Texas and Trump from rigging the election,” state Senate Democratic leader Mike McGuire said in a statement.

New districts have boundaries to boost Democratic edge 

While a general notion behind drawing districts is to unite what’s called communities of interest — neighborhoods and cities that share similar concerns or demographic traits — the proposed remapping would create a jigsaw of oddly shaped districts to maximize Democratic clout.

The 1st Congressional District is currently anchored in the state’s conservative far northeast corner and is represented by Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa, a Trump supporter. The district has a nearly 18-point GOP registration edge.

Under the proposal, Democrats would end up with a 10-point registration advantage in the district after drastic reshaping to include parts of heavily Democratic Sonoma County near the Pacific Coast.

In a post on the social platform X, LaMalfa called the proposal “absolutely ridiculous.” LaMalfa’s first congressional district would include parts of Santa Rosa under the proposed maps, an area that is in Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson’s district. 

In the battleground 41st District east of Los Angeles, represented by long-serving Republican Rep. Ken Calvert, Democratic and Republican registration is currently split about evenly.

But in the redrawn district, Democratic registration would jump to 46%, with GOP registration falling to 26%.

Other Republicans whose districts would see major changes intended to favor Democrats include Rep. Kevin Kiley in Northern California, Rep. Ken Calvert in Riverside County, Rep. David Valadao in the Central Valley farm belt and Rep. Darrell Issa in San Diego County. Also, embattled Democratic incumbents would see their districts padded with additional left-leaning voters.

“Well, obviously, Newsom’s entire goal was to revert to the era of drawing lines based upon partisan political factors, as politicians draw their lines,” Kiley told CBS Sacramento earlier Friday. 

Kiley’s current district covers suburbs, small towns and mountain communities from the Sacramento region to the Eastern California border. 

The release of the plan came the same day that Texas Republicans began a second special session to approve new congressional maps sought by Trump.

The GOP’s first special session in Texas ended without approving new political maps, thwarted by Democrats who staged a nearly two-week walkout that meant not enough lawmakers were present to pass any legislation. Gov. Greg Abbott then quickly called a second session that started without the necessary quorum to conduct business.

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday that his state will hold a Nov. 4 special referendum on the redrawn districts.

“We can’t stand back and watch this democracy disappear district by district all across the country,” Newsom said.

The announcement marked the first time any state beyond Texas officially waded into Trump’s fight, though several governors and legislative leaders from both parties have threatened such moves.

Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, who heads the House GOP campaign arm, said Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, is “shredding California’s Constitution and disenfranchising voters.”

“Californians oppose Newsom’s stunt because they won’t let a self-serving politician rig the system to further his career,” said Hudson, who heads the National Republican Congressional Committee.

How will voters react?

Under current law, California has an independent redistricting commission that was approved by voters earlier this century. Newsom has emphasized that the ballot effort would not get rid of the commission, though it would essentially suspend it. If the measure passes, the commission would then resume being able to write maps after the 2030 census.  

A big risk for Democrats is whether voters will be open to setting aside district boundaries crafted by the independent commission for ones shaped for partisan advantage.

Some people already have said they would sue over the effort. Republican former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a longtime opponent of partisan redistricting, signaled that he will not side with Democrats even after talking to Newsom. He posted a photo of himself Friday at the gym wearing a T-shirt that said, “Terminate gerrymandering,” with a reference to an obscenity and politicians.

“I’m getting ready for the gerrymandering battle,” Schwarzenegger said.

House control could come down to a few seats in 2026

On a national level, the partisan makeup of existing district lines puts Democrats within three seats of a majority. Of the 435 total seats, only several dozen districts are competitive. So even slight changes in a few states could affect which party wins control.

New maps are typically drawn once a decade after the census — the last being in 2020. Many states, including Texas, give legislators the power to draw maps. California is among those that empowers independent commissions with the task.

If approved, a new California map would take effect only if a Republican state does its own redistricting. It would remain through the 2030 elections. After that, Democrats say, they would return mapmaking power to the independent commission voters approved in 2008.

Hunter Woodall and

Nidia Cavazos

contributed to this report.