California voters have approved a new congressional map drawn by state Democrats, NBC News projects, giving the party the chance to gain up to five House seats in next year’s midterm elections and counter Republican redistricting efforts in other states.
The approval of the ballot measure allows California Democrats to temporarily circumvent the independent commission that typically controls the redistricting process and enact a more partisan map. The green light from voters will help Democrats limit, but not eliminate, the political disadvantage they’re set to face in the 2026 elections after Republicans in several other states, most notably Texas, redrew maps this year to boost their party.
In addition to Texas, where the GOP hopes to gain an additional five House seats under new district lines, Republicans in Missouri and North Carolina have passed maps designed to net the party a new seat in each state. A mandatory redraw in Ohio could also benefit Republicans. And President Donald Trump has continued to push GOP-led states like Indiana and Kansas to help shore up the party’s narrow House majority.
While some Democratic governors and lawmakers are trying to redraw their maps, too, they face additional legal and procedural hurdles that aren’t present in red states because many of them ceded the power to redistrict in recent years to independent or bipartisan commissions.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed hard for Democrats’ redistricting plan, accusing Trump and Republicans of “rigging” the midterms elections with their unusual decision to redraw congressional maps for explicit partisan gain outside the regular decennial cycle linked to the census. California Democrats named the bill that authorized the special election the “Election Rigging Response Act,” or Proposition 50, and the flurry of ads blanketing the state in support of the measure underscore that point.
“Donald Trump is out of control, imposing illegal tariffs that hurt our economy and denying disaster aid to California families. Now he’s attempting an unprecedented power grab to steal congressional seats and rig the 2026 election. But we can stop him,” a narrator says in one of the major ads from a group supporting "yes" on Prop 50.
“Prop 50, the Election Rigging Response Act, thwarts Trump’s scheme,” the narrator continues. “Prop 50 levels the playing field in the midterms and gives voters the power to check Trump.
There’s been almost $100 million in contributions and ad spending in the race, according to campaign finance reports and data from AdImpact, a political ad tracker.
Declaring victory Tuesday night, Newsom framed the result as part of a strong night for Democrats across the board and a blow to Trump.
"What a night for the Democratic Party, a party that’s in its ascendency, a party that’s on its toes, no longer on its heels. From coast to coast, from sea to shining sea," Newsom said.
"We're proud here in California to be part of this narrative this evening," he continued. "We're proud of the work that the people of the state of the people of California did tonight to send a powerful message to a historic president. Donald Trump is an historic president, he is the most historically unpopular president in modern history."
But while Republicans began saber-rattling and promised to go toe-to-toe with the Democratic efforts, the energy and spending for the campaign to defeat the ballot initiative fizzled down the stretch. The two sides were in rough parity on spending on the airwaves in the first month after the election was announced, $16 million to $17 million on either side. Then the “Yes” side spent $63 million on ads in the final six weeks, compared with less than $16 million from the “No” side.
The intensity of the “No” side’s spending waned in the final weeks, but it had prominent backers, including former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican.
“California voters established an independent commission led by citizens to stop rigged elections. Prop 50 cancels this historic reform, putting the politicians back in charge,” the narrator says in an ad featuring Schwarzenegger calling on voters to cast “no” votes to “protect” democracy.”
California already sends 43 Democrats and nine Republicans to Congress, but multiple nonpartisan analyses of the new maps show that the new lines could allow Democrats to flip as many as five seats by making it harder for Republican Reps. Doug LaMalfa, Darrell Issa, Ken Calvert, Kevin Kiley and David Valadao to win re-election.
The outcome is far but certain — and most of those Republican lawmakers have won tough races before — but redrawing the lines to add more Democratic voters in their districts will make it tough sledding next fall, especially because the party in power typically faces political headwinds in the midterms.
