California sued over ‘unconstitutional’ power grab in U.S. House

Republicans routinely collect about 35% or 40% of the vote in elections in far-left California, while Democrats get about 60%.

That was the breakdown in the 2024 presidential election in which loser Kamala Harris got the 60% and 40% went to Trump, who went on to win the nationwide vote in a landslide.

But Democrats in control for years in the state already have gerrymandered the congressional district lines so they would control 43 House seats, allowing Republicans only nine.

Now, pushed into the fight by Gov. Gavin Newsom, voters have allowed the all-Democrat legislature to gerrymander even more, this time trying to take another five seats away from the Republicans.

That would mean 40% of the population is represented by only four seats in the House, or less than 10% of the state’s delegation.

Such is democracy in leftist California.

But, in fact, the state, only hours after the vote became final, got sued over the “unconstitutional” plan.

A report at the Washington Examiner said, “Republicans claim in a lawsuit that the new map that will be enacted as a result of Proposition 50, giving Democrats five more favorable congressional districts, is unconstitutional. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California by the Dhillon Law Group on behalf of the California GOP. The lawsuit claims that the new maps illegally use voters’ race to draw new districts.”

Already, the 60% of the population that generally votes Democrat controls 43 of the state’s 52 House seats.

Redistricting based on race, according to the courts, isn’t allowed by the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause because race is considered a “suspect class.”

Even the Supreme Court has signaled limits, including time limits, on such political activism.

According to California Assemblyman David Tangipa, “When I said that the fight for California has just begun, I hope everybody and anybody knows I meant that.”

He said Newsom’s realignment of the House seats is “completely diminishing the voices of other groups to benefit other groups.”

Meaning Republicans are being silenced to benefit Newsom’s Democrats.

Newsom announced his scheme after Texas, which largely is GOP territory, finished a routine redistricting plan that does give GOP candidates a preference in some districts.

The report explained, “Democrats said the lawsuit is an example of Republicans dismissing the will of California voters.”

But actually, if that is the case, it would be dismissing only the partisan will of some Californians, as the state’s Republicans aren’t likely to push for fewer representatives from their party and more Democrats.

It is unclear whether the legal fight will result in an injunction that would prevent Democrats from taking advantage of their new power structure immediately.