US EditionCalifornia federal court dismisses GOP's block of redistricting map
A federal panel rejected claims of racial gerrymandering, allowing California’s Prop 50 map to potentially flip five Republican seats in the 2026 midterms.
- On Jan. 14, a three-judge federal panel in Los Angeles upheld Proposition 50, denying requests to block the map ahead of the 2026 midterms.
- Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed Prop 50 as a response to Republican mid-decade redistricting, and voters approved Proposition 50 in November 2025 to flip five Republican-held seats.
- District Judge Josephine Staton wrote, `We find that Challengers have failed to show that racial gerrymandering occurred, and we conclude that there is no basis for issuing a preliminary injunction`, noting majority-minority district status alone lacks weight without more evidence.
- California Republicans can appeal the Central District decision and seek U.S. Supreme Court review, preserving a map that could affect control of nine of California's 52 congressional seats in the 2026 midterms.
- The ruling follows the Supreme Court's move to allow Texas' map for the midterms, creating a legal backdrop as Justice Samuel Alito, Supreme Court Justice, signaled partisan maps may stand amid fights in Republican-led states.
11 Articles
11 Articles
Federal Court Upholds California’s Prop 50 Congressional Maps, Dismisses Racial Gerrymandering Claims
In a significant blow to Republican efforts to challenge California’s mid-decade redistricting, a federal three-judge panel ruled 2-1 on Wednesday to deny a preliminary injunction against the state’s new congressional maps approved by voters through Proposition 50. The decision allows the maps, designed to favor Democrats in five key districts, to proceed for the 2026 midterm elections. This ruling comes amid ongoing national debates over gerrym…
Federal Judge Allows California To Use New Congressional Map
Source: Smith Collection/Gado / Getty The modern GOP really believes that it should be allowed to do whatever it wants while everyone else plays by the rules. So it should come as no surprise that, after convincing several Republican state legislatures to engage in rare, mid-decade redistricting efforts, the Trump administration sued California for engaging in its own redistricting effort. Fortunately, that didn’t work out for them, as a panel o…
California Gets a Win in Redistricting Battle
California can use a new voter-approved US House map that is designed to boost Democrats in the 2026 midterms, a federal three-judge panel ruled Wednesday. In a 2-1 ruling, a three-judge panel in Los Angeles denied requests from state Republicans and the US Justice Department to block the map from...
JUST IN: Newsom Gloats After Federal Court Stacked with Biden, Obama Judges Reject GOP Effort to Block His Power Grab to Eliminate 5 Congressional Seats
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) took a victory lap after a federal court rejected a GOP bid to block his new congressional map on Wednesday.
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