The Utah Third District Court has struck down the congressional map crafted by the Republican-led state legislature, labeling it an unconstitutional “gerrymander” and replacing it with a map drawn by left-wing plaintiffs.
The new map, which the court claims better complies with the state’s anti-gerrymandering initiative, is projected to give Democrats an additional seat in one of the nation’s deeply red states.
At the heart of the controversy is the court’s decision to affirm a lower court injunction blocking the legislature’s maps (S.B. 1011 and S.B. 1012, known as Map C), claiming they violated Proposition 4 — a 2018 initiative designed to curb partisan gerrymandering.
The Court, led by Judge Dianna M. Gibson, has thrown out the legislature’s S.B. 1012 (Map C) and S.B. 1011, both approved earlier this year by the state’s duly elected representatives.
And instead adopts “Map 1,” drawn by the plaintiffs themselves, after declaring that the legislature’s map “unduly favored Republicans.”
California overwhelmingly approved Prop 50 on Tuesday, which will potentially add five Democrat seats to the U.S. House in opposition to Republicans in Texas.
The Associated Press called the election in favor of Prop 50 shortly after the polls closed on Tuesday night.
“California voters approved new congressional district boundaries Tuesday, delivering a victory for Democrats in the state-by-state redistricting battle that will help determine which party wins control of the U.S. House in 2026,” the AP noted.
Republicans hold 219 seats in the U.S. House, while Democrats hold 213; those five seats in the 2026 midterm could make a huge difference in the balance of power. California Gov. Gavin Newsom strongly backed Prop 50, pledging it would be a bulwark against President Trump.
President Trump on Tuesday called California’s Proposition 50 a “giant scam” and revealed that the Golden State’s mail-in ballots are under “serious legal and criminal review.”
Governor Gavin Newsom and the Democrat-controlled state Legislature placed the Prop 50 constitutional amendment on California’s 2025 special election ballot in August.
It authorizes a temporary override of California’s independent redistricting process for congressional districts, allowing the Democrat-controlled Legislature to gerrymander new maps starting with the 2026 midterm elections.
“The Unconstitutional Redistricting Vote in California is a GIANT SCAM in that the entire process, in particular the Voting itself, is RIGGED,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “All ‘Mail-In’ Ballots, where the Republicans in that State are ‘Shut Out,’ is under very serious legal and criminal review,” he added. “STAY TUNED.”
Breaking news: California voters approved a congressional map that could give Democrats up to five more House seats, countering Texas’s GOP-favored redistricting in a nationwide battle over district lines. https://t.co/WeBtZTCxyGpic.twitter.com/RHK53QbiMn
Looks like Republicans have folded their tent in their effort to defeat a Democratic gerrymander of California’s House districts one week before the special election. Good news for Democrats, and Gov. Gavin Newsom, who’s been leading the fight for California redistricting. Via Politico:
As Democrats pummel the state with Yes on 50 advertising, the Republican side of the battle has gone quiet. Major GOP donors and party leaders have effectively vanished from the front lines.
The biggest funder of the campaign to defeat Proposition 50, Charles Munger Jr., has not contributed any significant cash to the cause in weeks, and his Protect Voters First committee cut its weekly spending from more than $4 million to less than $300. The other opposition committee, Stop Sacramento’s Power Grab, spent $155,000 on advertising last week, compared to $3.8 million from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Yes on 50 campaign.
“It’s as full-throated a campaign for Democrats in California as if we were in the middle of a presidential election,” said Jon Fleischman, a former executive director of the California Republican Party. “But you can go to the house next door, occupied by Republicans, and it’s crickets — other than receiving their ballot in the mail.”
On Monday, Gov. Mike Braun called for a special session to redistrict Indiana’s nine congressional seats, two of which are held by Democrats in the Republican-supermajority state. His call is part of a nationwide effort to rebalance Congress after decades of heavily partisan redistricting everywhere Democrats hold state majorities, as well as congressional apportionment increasingly distorted by Democrat-encouraged mass illegal immigration.
“I am calling a special legislative session to protect Hoosiers from efforts in other states that seek to diminish their voice in Washington and ensure their representation in Congress is fair,” Braun said in a statement. “I am also asking the legislature to conform Indiana’s tax code with new federal tax provisions to ensure stability and certainty for taxpayers and tax preparers for 2026 filings.”
Former President Barack Obama speaks during a live stream in support of California’s Proposition 50, October 22, 2025.YouTube/California Office of the Governor
On Wednesday, former President Barack Obama joined California Gov. Gavin Newsom in a livestream for volunteers in support of Proposition 50, the governor’s redistricting measure, and the sole question on the ballot in the November 4 special election.
Allies of President Donald Trump are pressuring Indiana state lawmakers to vote on a redistricting proposal after a key state leader predicted the measure would fail.
A spokesperson for Rodric Bray, the Indiana Senate’s president pro tempore, told Politico Wednesday morning that “the votes aren’t there for redistricting,” prompting a number of heavyweight Trumpworld figures to hint at political consequences for Indiana Republicans if they don’t redraw the state’s map for the 2026 elections.
Voting security is always a hot topic around election time, but manipulation of our electoral system is a bigger problem that we have to worry about all the time.
On the most recent episode of The Drill Down podcast, we are not talking about stolen ballots, “ballot harvesting,” or other shenanigans that can happen during an election, but about how congressional districts are both drawn and apportioned. Two things recently in the news raise questions about how we do those things, and whether it’s still the best way.
As host Peter Schweizer asks, “What if an election can be rigged before the first ballot is even cast?”
Duke math professor Jonathan Mattingly conducted an analysis to discover if a new Trump-supported congressional map in North Carolina would result in the Republican Party locking in additional seats. The answer, he uncovered, is a resounding yes.
Three days before publishing his results on Sunday, the GOP revealed another mid-decade congressional map proposal that would bolster the party’s grip in Congress. It does so by expanding the boundaries of the state’s 1st Congressional District, which is currently held by Democrat Don Davis, pulling in some of the 3rd Congressional District, which is represented by Republican Greg Murphy.
Former President Barack Obama and California Governor Gavin Newsom are urging Californians to vote in favor of Proposition 50, a ballot measure that would replace the state’s independent redistricting system with a legislature-approved map projected to eliminate several Republican-held congressional districts.
On Tuesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom posted on X, “Listen to @barackobama,” sharing a new video featuring former President Barack Obama encouraging voters to support Proposition 50 in the state’s November 4 special election.
In the video, Obama says:
“California, the whole nation is counting on you. Democracy is on the ballot November 4. Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress to rig the next election and wield unchecked power for two more years. With Prop 50, you can stop Republicans in their tracks. Prop 50 puts our elections back on a level playing field, which preserves Independent Redistricting over the long term, and lets the people decide. Return your ballot today. Vote yes on 50.”
The ad marks Obama’s latest effort to promote Gov. Newsom’s redistricting plan, which would replace California’s independent redistricting commission — created by voters in 2008 — with a partisan-drawn map. According to previous Breitbart News reports, the proposal would reduce Republican-held seats in California’s congressional delegation from nine to five, even though roughly 40 percent of voters supported Republican candidates in the 2024 election.
Obama has described Newsom’s proposal as a “reasoned and measured approach,” writing on X in August, “Over the long term, we shouldn’t have political gerrymandering in America, just a fair fight between Republicans and Democrats based on who’s got better ideas. But since Texas is taking direction from a partisan White House and gerrymandering in the middle of a decade to try and maintain the House despite their unpopular policies, I have tremendous respect for how Governor Newsom has approached this. He’s put forward a smart, measured approach in California, designed to address a very particular problem at a very particular moment in time.”
At a fundraiser on Martha’s Vineyard, Obama praised the initiative further, saying, “We’re only going to do it if and when Texas and/or other Republican states begin to pull these maneuvers. Otherwise, this doesn’t go into effect.”
California Republicans have sued to stop Newsom’s plan, calling it unconstitutional and arguing it violates the 30-day public notice requirement for legislation. The California Supreme Court, however, ruled in August that the plan could proceed, allowing the governor to use a “gut and amend” tactic to fast-track the measure through the legislature.
The special election — estimated to cost $250 million — will ask voters to approve the new map and amend the state constitution to permit mid-decade redistricting. The Democratic National Committee has launched bilingual outreach campaigns in support of Prop 50 focusing on Latino voters, while major donors including billionaire Tom Steyer have funded multimillion-dollar ad campaigns promoting the initiative.
Polls indicate that a majority of Californians still favor retaining the state’s independent redistricting commission. A UC Berkeley–Politico survey found that 64 percent of voters prefer the current system, compared to 36 percent who support the governor’s proposed changes.
California’s redistricting fight is part of a broader national battle following Texas’s new “One Big Beautiful Map” which adds five Republican-leaning districts. Obama and former Attorney General Eric Holder, through the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, have pledged to counter GOP-led redistricting efforts, characterizing them as “an existential threat to our democracy.”
Ohio GOP misses deadline for new maps, task now moves to panel– www.washingtonexaminer.com Source Link Excerpt:
Ohio lawmakers missed their first deadline to redistrict their congressional maps mid-decade.
Ohio lawmakers needed to pass a map with at least 60% support in each chamber and at least 50% support from Democrats by Sept. 30. This deadline was not met, as Democrats who would lose seats have not been on board with the push to give Republicans more seats.
Republicans did not introduce a proposal by this deadline either.
Gerrymandering saps faith in democracy– www.futurity.org Source Link Excerpt:
When politicians redraw congressional district maps to favor their party, they may secure short-term victories. But those wins can come at a steep price—a loss of public faith in elections and, ultimately, in democracy itself.
That’s the conclusion of a peer-reviewed study led by University of California, Riverside political scientist Shaun Bowler in Political Research Quarterly.
The research finds that partisan gerrymandering—the manipulation of district boundaries to lock in political advantage—does more than distort representation in Congress. It undermines the belief that elections are fair, a cornerstone of democratic legitimacy.
Bowler, a professor of political science, says survey data from tens of thousands of voters in the 2020 and 2022 elections show that Americans view gerrymandering with the same disdain they reserve for bribery and other blatant forms of political corruption. The difference, he says, is that gerrymandering is carried out in full public view, cloaked in arguable legality.
Consider the current push in Texas, where Republican legislators and Governor Greg Abbott, encouraged by President Donald Trump, are working to redraw congressional districts to add five GOP seats as part a Republican effort to retain control of Congress after next year’s midterm election.
“It’s out in the open,” Bowler says. “They’re saying, ‘We’re rigging the midterm election to produce an outcome.’”
Kirk’s death reinvigorates Republicans’ redistricting race– www.politico.com Source Link Excerpt:
President Donald Trump’s already brass-knuckled push for red-state redistricting is taking on an increasingly apocalyptic valence among MAGA stalwarts following the killing of Charlie Kirk.
Inside an Embassy Suites ballroom in suburban Indianapolis this weekend, Sen. Jim Banks’ inaugural Hoosier Leadership for America Summit drew hundreds of attendees who came to hear from next-generation MAGA figures ranging from Alex Bruesewitz, a top Trump adviser and longtime friend of Kirk’s, to GOP strategist Alex DeGrasse.
The summit marked the first official MAGA gathering since Kirk’s death and served as both a Kirk memorial and redistricting rally, unfolding amid an increased security footprint and ubiquitous police presence throughout the conference center.
Between musical interludes featuring Jason Aldean’s “Fly over States” and “Try That In a Small Town,” MAGA leaders spoke of “demons” at work behind the shooting of Kirk and the stabbing of Iryna Zarutska and “the righteous versus the wicked.” An attendee who posed a question to Banks wondered whether Kirk’s killing “lifted the veil between good and evil.”
“This isn’t a political battle anymore,” said Bruesewitz, who spoke to the crowd with visible emotion about his friendship with Kirk dating back to their teens, and recalled their last dinner together in South Korea just days ago. “It’s a spiritual battle.”
All of it presaged a coming national political hardening on the right with Kirk’s killing as the raison d’etre. More than any other issue at the conference, Kirk’s death seeped into the rationale for mid-decade redistricting.
After the first major salvo was fired by Texas, the gerrymandering wars have begun. California is mired in lawsuits in its efforts while Missouri has charged ahead by passing a new U.S. House district map that effectively eliminates one Democrat seat. This passed the House of representatives by a vote of 90 to 65. It was only that close because a few Republicans also voted against it.
Missouri State House Approves New District Map – RedState– redstate.com Source Link Excerpt:
Honestly, it’s about time Republicans started playing hardball.
On Tuesday, Missouri’s state House of Representatives passed a new congressional district map, eliminating one safe Democratic seat by dividing Kansas City among three heavily Republican districts.
The Missouri House of Representatives on Tuesday approved plans to redraw state congressional districts as part of President Trump’s push to boost the Republican majority in Congress.
The new state congressional map was approved in a 90 to 65 vote, with a handful of GOP lawmakers voting against it.
Utah gerrymander struck down by judge in a win for voters– www.latimes.com Source Link Excerpt:
It’s been more than 60 years since Utah backed a Democrat for president. The state’s last Democratic U.S. senator left office nearly half a century ago and the last Utah Democrat to serve in the House lost his seat in 2020.
Late last month, a judge tossed out the state’s slanted congressional lines and ordered Utah’s GOP-run Legislature to draw a new political map, ruling that lawmakers improperly thumbed their noses and overrode voters who created an independent redistricting commission to end gerrymandering.
It’s a welcome pushback against the growing pattern of lawmakers arrogantly ignoring voters and pursuing their preferred agenda. You don’t have to be a partisan to think that elections should matter and when voters express their will it should be honored.
Utah gerrymander struck down by judge in a win for voters– www.latimes.com Source Link Excerpt:
It’s been more than 60 years since Utah backed a Democrat for president. The state’s last Democratic U.S. senator left office nearly half a century ago and the last Utah Democrat to serve in the House lost his seat in 2020.
Late last month, a judge tossed out the state’s slanted congressional lines and ordered Utah’s GOP-run Legislature to draw a new political map, ruling that lawmakers improperly thumbed their noses and overrode voters who created an independent redistricting commission to end gerrymandering.
It’s a welcome pushback against the growing pattern of lawmakers arrogantly ignoring voters and pursuing their preferred agenda. You don’t have to be a partisan to think that elections should matter and when voters express their will it should be honored.
Democrat States are trying to change their congressional district maps to give the DNC more U.S. House seats in 2026 following a move by the Texas republicans that gives the GOP 5 more seats in 2026. Now, every state that can is scrambling to serve its party and find new House seats through “innovative” mapping. The nature and tone of the gerrymandering wars have some calling for the removal of political parties from the process of district mapping altogether.
Democrats Threaten A Nationwide Redistricting War, But They May Not Like The Result– legalinsurrection.com Source Link Excerpt:
Democrats are scrambling to respond to Texas’s bold mid-decade redistricting push, but the reality is clear: they are poised to lose badly.
A partisan move by Texas to redraw its congressional maps in the middle of the decade to secure five more GOP seats in the U.S. House set off a clamor to replicate the effort in red and blue states.
Texas Republicans, backed by President Trump, kicked off the effort to lock in control of the House. Democrats staged their usual walkout stunt, but Gov. Greg Abbott made clear Republicans would not back down.
Past efforts by Democrats to abscond and deny Republicans a quorum similarly only delayed the passage of bills, but didn’t quash them. And Gov. Gregg Abbott vowed to keep calling the Legislature back until enough lawmakers are present to pass the redistricting proposal.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom tried to flex in retaliation, announcing his state would redraw maps to add Democrats. But unlike Texas, California faces a maze of restrictions, including its so-called independent commission and voter approval requirements. That means Newsom’s threat is more bark than bite.
Meanwhile, red states are moving fast. Missouri is on top of that movement.
A document obtained by The Associated Press shows the state Senate has received a $46,000 invoice for software licenses and staff training for redistricting.
While Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe hasn’t officially announced a special session, Republican House Majority Leader Alex Riley told the AP it is “pretty likely” to happen. Riley added that he has had discussions with White House staff about it.
After weeks of bluster from dueling governors and state lawmakers, California and Texas raced forward with parallel action this week to draw new congressional maps, setting into motion a national redistricting fight that could upend the midterms and determine control of the House.
U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) is doubling down on his calls to axe Republican-led redistricting efforts after California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a plan to draw out five Republican-controlled districts in his state, which is already among the most gerrymandered in the nation. Rep. Kiley’s seat is in danger of being drawn out if Newsom’s plan succeeds.
Earlier this month, the California lawmaker introduced a bill that, if passed, would prevent states from redrawing their respective congressional maps before the 2030 census. The bill was introduced as Texas Republicans moved forward with a plan that would create five additional districts that Trump won by 10 or more points last year.
A number of additional Republican-controlled states, including Missouri, Ohio, in addition to potential plans from Indiana and Florida, are considering redistricting themselves. Republicans have argued that the move is necessary due to extreme gerrymanders in Democrat-controlled states like California, Illinois and Maryland.
The California Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a petition filed by state Republican legislators seeking to halt Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) plan to redistrict California’s congressional map.
“Petitioners have failed to meet their burden of establishing a basis for relief at this time under California Constitution article IV, section 8,” reads a brief order posted to the docket.
Newsom has hit back at Republican redistricting efforts in Texas by pushing for a special election this November to get voters’ approval on a more favorable House map for Democrats in California in time for the 2026 midterms.
The ruling paves the way for the California legislature to proceed with voting as soon as Thursday on a package that would set up the special election.
As if Republicans didn’t have enough problems trying to hold on to the House majority, along comes Utah to give them a whole new problem.
Republicans once again tried to ignore the will of the people and the state’s constitution, and the matter went to court.
The Campaign Legal Center explained what happened:
The court determined that the Utah state legislature violated the people’s right to alter or reform their government when they repealed Proposition 4, or Prop 4 – a ballot initiative that aimed to prohibit partisan gerrymandering by establishing the Utah Independent Redistricting Commission and creating fair, neutral criteria and procedures for adopting district maps.
Prop 4, which was passed by Utah voters and unconstitutionally repealed by the legislature, is now the law again. The current gerrymandered congressional map passed by the legislature may not be used in future elections. The Utah state legislature now has a chance to pass a new, fair map that complies with Prop 4, and if it does not, the court will order a new map, which will be used for the 2026 election.
Democrats released a congressional map for California Friday that could give them five more districts more favorable to Democrats.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has been pushing to redistrict California as President Donald Trump demanded Texas Republicans redraw the state’s map mid-decade in an effort to create a cushion to retain the GOP’s razor-thin House majority.
California, as the most populous state, has the largest congressional delegation. Democrats currently hold 43 of the state’s 52 House seats, and the new map could give Democrats a 48-4 advantage.
The far-left failure Governor Newsom is forcing a special election in an already very gerrymandered state into a utterly one party state. Newsom is a threat to democracy. Newsom claims gerrymandering is evil so he is going to super-gerrymander California’s existing gerrymandered congressional districts. Think about that.
Newsom wants to increase Democrat representation by five more, which would give Democrats 92% representation, while 40% of California votes Republican.
BREAKING 🚨 Voters in California overwhelmingly oppose Gov Gavin Newsom’s plan to gerrymander the State 64%-36%
Former President Barack Obama is supporting California’s mid-cycle redistricting effort as a “responsible approach” to Republicans drawing new maps in Texas.
Obama praised California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ballot measure proposal to redraw congressional districts and tilt at least five congressional districts in the state towards Democrats at a fundraiser on Tuesday for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.
“I believe that Governor Newsom’s approach is a responsible approach,” he said, according to excerpts obtained by POLITICO. “I think that approach is a smart, measured approach, designed to address a very particular problem in a very particular moment in time.”
Former NBC/MSNBC political director Chuck Todd sounded a lot like CNN’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday’s edition of The Arena on CNN. In a poor attempt to deflect attention away from Democratic Party gerrymandering in states like California and Illinois, by falsely suggesting that Republican-controlled Florida was the “worst” state when it came to redistricting practices. He also argued that the way to solve a lot of those issues was to actively gerrymander.
What caused Todd to snap at his home state of Florida was CNN Republican commentator Scott Jennings calling out far-left states like California and Illinois for their wildly gerrymandered districts. “I mean, when I look at the states like Illinois and New York and even California with the supposed independent commission where Republicans get 40 percent of the vote and only have 17 percent of the seats,” he proclaimed.
California Democrats never miss a chance to lecture the rest of the country about “protecting democracy.” But when it comes to their own backyard, they can’t even answer the most basic question:
Who drew the newly proposed California congressional maps?
That’s exactly what Sacramento reporter Ashley Zavala asked Assembly Elections Chair Gail Pellerin and Senate Elections Chair Sabrina Cervantes yesterday. What followed wasn’t transparency. It was a master class in political dodge, deflection, and double-speak.
After weeks of bluster from dueling governors and state lawmakers, California and Texas raced forward with parallel action this week to draw new congressional maps, setting into motion a national redistricting fight that could upend the midterms and determine control of the House.
U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) is doubling down on his calls to axe Republican-led redistricting efforts after California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a plan to draw out five Republican-controlled districts in his state, which is already among the most gerrymandered in the nation. Rep. Kiley’s seat is in danger of being drawn out if Newsom’s plan succeeds.
Earlier this month, the California lawmaker introduced a bill that, if passed, would prevent states from redrawing their respective congressional maps before the 2030 census. The bill was introduced as Texas Republicans moved forward with a plan that would create five additional districts that Trump won by 10 or more points last year.
A number of additional Republican-controlled states, including Missouri, Ohio, in addition to potential plans from Indiana and Florida, are considering redistricting themselves. Republicans have argued that the move is necessary due to extreme gerrymanders in Democrat-controlled states like California, Illinois and Maryland.
The California Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a petition filed by state Republican legislators seeking to halt Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) plan to redistrict California’s congressional map.
“Petitioners have failed to meet their burden of establishing a basis for relief at this time under California Constitution article IV, section 8,” reads a brief order posted to the docket.
Newsom has hit back at Republican redistricting efforts in Texas by pushing for a special election this November to get voters’ approval on a more favorable House map for Democrats in California in time for the 2026 midterms.
The ruling paves the way for the California legislature to proceed with voting as soon as Thursday on a package that would set up the special election.
As if Republicans didn’t have enough problems trying to hold on to the House majority, along comes Utah to give them a whole new problem.
Republicans once again tried to ignore the will of the people and the state’s constitution, and the matter went to court.
The Campaign Legal Center explained what happened:
The court determined that the Utah state legislature violated the people’s right to alter or reform their government when they repealed Proposition 4, or Prop 4 – a ballot initiative that aimed to prohibit partisan gerrymandering by establishing the Utah Independent Redistricting Commission and creating fair, neutral criteria and procedures for adopting district maps.
Prop 4, which was passed by Utah voters and unconstitutionally repealed by the legislature, is now the law again. The current gerrymandered congressional map passed by the legislature may not be used in future elections. The Utah state legislature now has a chance to pass a new, fair map that complies with Prop 4, and if it does not, the court will order a new map, which will be used for the 2026 election.
Democrats released a congressional map for California Friday that could give them five more districts more favorable to Democrats.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has been pushing to redistrict California as President Donald Trump demanded Texas Republicans redraw the state’s map mid-decade in an effort to create a cushion to retain the GOP’s razor-thin House majority.
California, as the most populous state, has the largest congressional delegation. Democrats currently hold 43 of the state’s 52 House seats, and the new map could give Democrats a 48-4 advantage.
