California voters OK new congressional lines, boosting Democrats ahead of midterms

California voters OK new congressional lines, boosting Democrats ahead of midterms
https://www.npr.org/2025/11/04/nx-s1...-redistricting
California voters OK new congressional lines, boosting Democrats ahead of midterms
Updated November 4, 202511:10 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO — 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.

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.

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 and New Jersey.

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.

In Texas, Missouri and North Carolina, the new GOP-friendly maps were enacted after approval by the state legislature.

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.

The commission remains popular in California, but Newsom was able to amplify the partisan stakes 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.

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."

"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."
Newsom's "Yes" side wins the money battle

Newsom, who has positioned himself as a primary foil to Trump, amassed a war chest to support the measure — 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.

The campaign against Proposition 50 was led by Charles Munger Jr., a Bay Area donor who bankrolled the original campaign to create the citizens redistricting commission in 2008. Munger contributed nearly $33 million to the No on 50 campaign — but his donations accounted for roughly three-quarters of the $44 million raised by opponents.

Other Republican heavyweights stayed away from the campaign and spending against Proposition 50 dried up in the final weeks of the race, as polling showed the measure opening up a wide lead.

Even Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former California Republican governor who worked with Munger to create the citizens commission, played a restrained role in the campaign — voicing his opposition to Proposition 50 in just a handful of interviews and public appearances.

The changes to the state's congressional map are sure to trigger a series of difficult decisions for Republican incumbents in the coming weeks.

U.S. Reps. Ken Calvert, Darrell Issa, Kevin Kiley and Doug LaMalfa will have to weigh running in districts where chances of reelection range from challenging to virtually impossible.

The new lines approved under Proposition 50 will remain in place through the 2030 election, after which the citizens commission would again take over redistricting responsibilities.

Currently at 65% yes/35% no. So proud of my state and Governor Newsom!

It's over MAGAs. Go home and brush your tooth!

Dementia Don calls for Republicans to do away with the filibuster and then, pass legislation banning mail-in voting. Says mail-in voting is rigged.

However, it is very well known and documented that Diaper Don has voted by mail many, many times. (Let's not forget he has 34 FELONIES too.)

If Republicans are losing, it must he fraud. If they are winning, no fraud.

And Republicans supporters eat this shit right up.
"I love the poorly educated."
"Smart people don't like me."

Good thing no open-bathroom, weird-trans shit was in this ballot.

Shame, it'd probably win too.

Nothing like an undocumented immigrant salivating over taking rights and protections away from another minority group. Falling right into the Republican playbook.

You know you're in undoc daca forum, right?

Why are republicans so weirdly interested in restrooms? Do they look upon the toilet and marvel in wonder at it?

They are also weirdly interested in transgeders. They probably find a lot of them weirdly hot. With erm all the perks of a woman but with the peepee as well. It's a republican favorite i suppose.

Democrats: cost of living is too high
Republicans: toilets, illegals, Trans, woke. Biden. Obama.

You'd think with how much they obsess over Obama that he resoundingly humiliated them in middle school or some shiz.

Nope.

It was Biden-Dems who started the whole Woke-Trans shit

And it was them who got soundly defeated for it.

They need to give their low IQ, hate-filled base an easy, vulnerable target to direct their hate and frustrations to as a distraction and to prevent the base from actually blaming Republicans for all the shit they try to get away with that ends up actually hurting their base.

When you get the people you don't give a shit about to fight each other instead of fighting you, you are playing on easy mode. And it's easy to do that when most of the Republican base is stupid AF, just like Got-DACA.

SCAPEGOATING

But see, that's the deflection from the most active MAGA troll on this forum. Instead of talking about how badly the Republicans are doing and how poorly Trump's performance and agenda has landed on voters as reflected by yesterday's results, HE'S HERE TALKING ABOUT TRANS PEOPLE AND BIDEN AGAIN. LOL. Stupid ass.