California Republicans sue to block new House map

California Republicans filed a lawsuit Wednesday looking to block a new Democratic-friendly House map from taking effect just one day after voters in the Golden State overwhelmingly approved it in a special election.

The California GOP and a group of voters sued Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and California Secretary of State Shirley Weber (D), alleging in their lawsuit that Democrats “engaged in unconstitutional racial gerrymandering” and that state lawmakers violated the Constitution “when it drew new congressional district lines based on race, specifically to favor Hispanic voters, without cause or evidence to justify it.”

“California’s Hispanic voters have successfully elected their preferred candidates to both state and federal office, without being thwarted by a racial majority voting as a bloc,” the lawsuit said. 

Republicans are asking a three-judge panel to invalidate the new House map.

Californians on Tuesday passed Proposition 50, which was placed on the ballot by state lawmakers temporarily allows the state to bypass its independent redistricting commission to pass a new set of congressional lines that would give Democrats four or five pickup opportunities in the House next year.

The ballot measure stipulates that the state would defer to the commission to redraw the state’s congressional map after the 2030 U.S. Census.

Proposition 50’s passage was a major win for Democrats and Newsom, who was seen as taking a major political gamble with the special election as he eyes a potential White House bid. Republicans had tried to block Democrats’ efforts to pass the ballot measure ahead of the November election but were unsuccessful.

Democrats believe the same will remain true after this one.

“We haven’t reviewed the lawsuit, but if it’s from the California Republican Party and Harmeet Dhillon’s law firm, it’s going to fail,” Newsom’s press office said on the social platform X. “Good luck, losers.”

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) called the lawsuit “frivolous.”

He said California's redistricting complied with both the state's constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which bars the maps designed specifically to disadvantage Black and other minority voters. That runs in contrast to the new map in Texas, he charged, where state Republicans drew new districts expected to flip as many as five Democratic seats, all of them held by Black or Hispanic lawmakers.

"It's very different," Jeffries said, "than what the people decided in California, to make sure that they had a fair map."

A redistricting battle first initiated this year by the White House and national Republicans has quickly spread nationwide as both parties race to draw new maps and create potential pickup opportunities in the House ahead of 2026.

Republicans in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina have passed GOP-friendly maps, while California is the only state so far that’s passed more Democratic-friendly maps.

The lawsuit comes amid a case being weighed by the U.S. Supreme Court over Louisiana’s congressional map and the Voting Rights Act. During oral arguments, the high court seemed inclined to limit the use of race in redistricting, which could have widespread implications for the the state’s congressional map and others across the country.

Mike Lillis contributed.