California votes on ballot initiative to reshape congressional districts

It’s Election Day in California, where a ballot initiative will have a big impact on next year’s battle to win a majority in the U.S. House, whether it succeeds or fails.

California voters are deciding whether to approve a ballot proposal that would dramatically change the state’s congressional districts, putting the left-leaning state front and center in the high-stakes political battle over redistricting that pits President Donald Trump and the Republican Party against Democrats.

California lawmakers this summer approved a special proposal on the November ballot seeking voter approval to temporarily sidestep the state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and return the power to draw congressional maps to the Democratic-dominated Legislature. Early mail-in voting for the contest has been ongoing for a month.

The effort in California, which could create five more Democratic-leaning congressional districts, is aimed at countering the passage of a new map in reliably red Texas that aims to create up to five right-leaning House seats. Failure to approve what is known as Proposition 50 would be a stinging setback for Democrats.

Obama supports Newsom’s California redistricting bill, Proposition 50

Two-term Gov. Gavin Newsom, seen as a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, is leading the effort to pass the proposal.

“If we lose here, we will have complete Republican control of the House, Senate and White House for at least two more years,” Newsom asserted in a recent fundraising appeal to his supporters. “If we win here, we can put an end to Trump during his final two years.”

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The push by Trump and Republicans for a rare mid-decade redistricting is part of a broader effort by the GOP to consolidate its slim House majority to maintain control of the chamber in the 2026 midterm elections, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.

Trump and his political team aim to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House, when Democrats regained the majority in the House of Representatives in the 2018 midterm elections.

President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House on October 6, 2025 in Washington, DC (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Last month, Missouri joined Texas as the second GOP-controlled state to pass congressional redistricting before next year’s elections. The new map in Missouri is likely to give the GOP another right-leaning seat.

North Carolina’s Republican-controlled Legislature also passed a new map, which will likely give the GOP another seat in Congress. Republican-controlled Indiana is on edge, with a special legislative session scheduled for this week.

But unlike those states, California voters need to have their say before redistricting power is returned to the Sacramento Legislature.

“Heaven help us if we lose,” Newsom said at the fundraiser. “It’s a go-it-all moment for Democrats.”

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Supporters and opponents of Proposition 50 have raised hundreds of millions of dollars in fundraising, with much of the money going to pay for a deluge of advertising on both sides.

One of the two main groups opposing Newsom and Democrats described their effort as “Stop the Power Takeover in Sacramento.”

Participating in the battle was former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was the last Republican governor of California.

Actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is opposing Democrats’ move to suspend the state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission. (Tristar Media/Wiremag)

During his tenure as governor, Schwarzenegger played a starring role in passing California constitutional amendments in 2008 and 2010 that took the power to move the state’s legislative and congressional districts away from politicians and put it in the hands of an independent commission.

Northern California voters support Proposition 50 in redistricting battle

“This is what they want to do is set us back — which is why it’s important for you to vote no on Proposition 50,” Schwarzenegger said in an ad against Proposition 50. “democracy – we have to protect it, and we have to go and fight for it.”

But as Election Day approached in California, “yes” forces had largely outweighed “no” forces, and public opinion polls indicated majority support for the proposal.

Even before Trump began his redistricting campaign, Ohio was under a court order to redraw its maps. That could strengthen Republicans in a once-battleground state that now leans right.

Republicans in GOP-dominated Florida are also considering redistricting in Congress. Democrats in the populous state of Maryland are considering a redistricting campaign, while the Democratic-controlled legislature in Virginia is already pushing for redistricting.

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Other states considering changing their maps are Democratic-controlled Illinois and the red states Kansas and Nebraska.

Meanwhile, Democrats could gain a seat in Republican-dominated Utah due to a new, more competitive, judge-mandated map.