Just minutes after the polls closed in California, multiple outlets declared that California voters had passed Proposition 50, a ballot measure that suspends the state’s independent redistricting commission and allows the Democratic-controlled legislature to redraw the state’s congressional maps for the 2026 midterms.
The massive win means Democrats can net as many as five U.S. House seats from California, effectively negating the gains Texas Republicans could see from their own newly gerrymandered map, which Texas GOP lawmakers unilaterally redrew at the behest of President Donald Trump.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom meets with attendees during a Proposition 50 campaign event on Nov. 1.
Major credit goes to California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who made a bold and quick decision to fight back against Republicans’ attempt to rig the 2026 midterms with unprecedented mid-decade redistricting.
When Newsom announced the referendum, mainstream media reporters doubted the effort would succeed.
However, Democrats’ messaging campaign was so successful that weeks before the election Newsom asked donors to stop giving to the campaign and save their money for other candidates, as he was so confident the measure would pass.
And Republicans—who had vowed to fight the effort—gave up weeks before the election even took place as polls showed the referendum was all but assured to succeed. In fact, Republican finger-pointing began even before the first vote was counted.
The fact that California not only passed Proposition 50 but passed it by massive margins could spur other Democratic-controlled states to take similar action to redraw their maps.
Already, Democrats in Virginia took the first step to putting a referendum up for a vote that would suspend the state’s independent redistricting commission and allow the Democratic-controlled legislature to redraw its maps. If that effort succeeds, Democrats could net as many as four more seats.
Related | Virginia Democrats seek to reshape House map to counter Trump redistricting push
Democrats in Colorado are also mulling the idea of calling a referendum to suspend their state’s independent redistricting commission and allow them to redraw their congressional maps as well.
