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\n Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a campaign event for Proposition 50 on Saturday in Los Angeles. Newsom has been the driving force behind the ballot measure, as a way for California Democrats to fight back in the redistricting battle initiated by President Trump.
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Ethan Swope\/AP<\/p>\n
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Ethan Swope\/AP<\/p>\n
SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 California voters have easily approved a ballot measure to redraw the state’s congressional map to favor Democrats, according to a race call by The Associated Press, marking the party’s biggest victory to date in a national battle over redistricting ahead of the 2026 midterms.<\/p>\n
The measure, called Proposition 50, will replace lines drawn by an independent commission with a map that could net Democrats as many as five new seats in next year’s U.S. House elections.<\/p>\n
The AP called the race just as polls closed in California. The result caps a strong election night for Democrats, who also pocketed notable wins in Virginia<\/a> and New Jersey<\/a>.<\/p>\n In an abbreviated campaign that saturated California’s airwaves with ads, Gov. Gavin Newsom convinced voters that the state needed to draw new maps to counteract gerrymandering done at President Trump’s behest in Republican-led states such as Texas.<\/p>\n In Texas<\/a>, Missouri<\/a> and North Carolina<\/a>, the new GOP-friendly maps were enacted after approval by the state legislature.<\/p>\n But in California, Newsom and Democratic allies needed to win approval from voters for the new political lines, because voters had given congressional line-drawing power to an independent citizens commission in 2010.<\/p>\n The commission remains popular in California, but Newsom was able to amplify the partisan stakes<\/a> of the campaign, arguing that California could not stand by and watch Republicans bake in a sizable advantage through redistricting ahead of midterm elections that will decide control of power in a closely divided House of Representatives.<\/p>\n The results, said California political strategist Erica Kwiatkowski Nielsen, “shows a huge appetite and just the willingness of Californians to stand up to Donald Trump.”<\/p>\n “I think the campaign did a fantastic job of saying and acknowledging people’s fears that, hey, we’ve been a leader in California on redistricting but this isn’t politics as usual,” Nielsen said. “These are unprecedented times.”<\/p>\n Newsom’s “Yes” side wins the money battle <\/p>\n Newsom, who has positioned himself as a primary foil to Trump, amassed a war chest to support the measure \u2014 bringing in nearly $120 million as of Friday. Top donors included House Majority PAC, a group working to elect Democrats to the House, and George Soros’ Fund for Policy Reform.<\/p>\n The Yes campaign blanketed the state with ads featuring top Democrats, from former President Barack Obama to New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.<\/p>\n
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