California approves the new congressional map supported by Democrats

Live results: California 2025 election on Proposition 50

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California voters approved new congressional district boundaries on Tuesday, delivering a victory for Democrats in a state-by-state redistricting battle that will help determine which party wins control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026, and with it the ability to thwart or advance President Donald Trump’s agenda.

He watches: California’s redistricting battle is getting costly and deeply divisive

Approval of Proposition 50 gives Democrats a chance to win up to five additional seats, just enough to thwart a move by Texas Republicans to redraw their own maps for five GOP seats at Trump’s request. Texas’ move and California’s response have unleashed a wave of redistricting efforts across the country, with Republican states appearing to have the advantage. Deep blue California is Democrats’ best chance to hold the seats.

Midterm elections usually punish the party in the White House, and Trump is struggling to maintain his party’s slim majority in the House of Representatives. Republicans hold 219 seats, compared to 213 for Democrats.

Tuesday’s results represent a political victory for Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who called the measure an essential tool to fight Trump and protect American democracy.

The measure is supported by Newsom and Obama

California’s Proposition 50 asked voters to suspend House maps drawn by an independent commission and replace them with realigned districts adopted by the Democratic-controlled Legislature. These new regions will be ready for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections.

The reshuffle aims to weaken the power of Republican voters, in one case by uniting the conservative-leaning rural parts of far northern California with Marin County, a popular liberal coastal stronghold across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.

Read more: Democrats cruise to victory, and other lessons from Election Day 2025

The measure was led by Newsom, who has thrown the weight of his political operation behind him in a major test of his mettle ahead of a potential 2028 presidential campaign. Former President Barack Obama urged voters to pass it as well.

Newsom sought to nationalize the campaign, portraying the proposal as a counterweight to all things Trump.

“Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress to rig the next election and enjoy unfettered power for another two years,” Obama says in one ad. “You can stop Republicans in their tracks.”

Critics said two wrongs don’t make a right. They urged Californians to reject what they call a Democratic power grab, even if they have doubts about Trump’s moves in Republican-led states.

Watch live: Key takeaways from the 2025 election

Among the most prominent critics was Arnold Schwarzenegger, the movie star and former Republican governor who pushed for the independent commission, which voters approved in 2008 and 2010. Schwarzenegger said in September that it was illogical to fight Trump by becoming like him, claiming that the proposal would “take power from the people.”

“I don’t want Newsom to have control,” said Rebecca Fleishman, a 63-year-old retired medical assistant from Norco, Southern California, who voted against the measure. “I don’t want the state to be blue. I want it to be red.”

After an early wave of television ads, opponents of the plan struggled to raise money in a state with some of the most expensive media markets in the country. Data compiled by ad tracking firm AdImpact last week showed Democrats and other supporters received more than $5 million in ad buys booked on broadcast television, cable and radio. But opponents had almost no dedicated time, even though the data did include some popular streaming services like Hulu and YouTube or mail-in ads.

Read more: Why is the Trump administration sending election observers to California and New Jersey?

Total spending on broadcast and satellite advertising exceeded $100 million, more than two-thirds of which came from supporters. Newsom asked people to stop donating in the final weeks of the race.

Trump, who lost California by landslides in his three presidential campaigns, has largely stayed out of the fray. A week before the election, he urged voters in a social media post not to vote early or by mail — messages that ran counter to those of the state’s top Republicans who urged people to get their ballots in as soon as possible.

In a post on Tuesday on his social media platform, the president described the state’s voting process as “rigged” and warned that it was “subject to a very serious legal and criminal review. Stay tuned!” Foreign Minister Shirley Webber described it as “yet another baseless allegation”.

The National House map is in constant flux

Democrats hope to gain up to five seats in California if voters approve the new boundaries, making up for the five seats Republicans are looking to gain through the new Texas maps. Republicans also expect to pick up one seat each in the new maps in Missouri and North Carolina, and perhaps two more seats in Ohio.

Congressional district boundaries are typically redrawn every 10 years to reflect population shifts documented in the census. Mid-decade redistricting is unusual, in the absence of a court order proving an error in existing maps.

Five other GOP-led states are also considering new maps: Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana and Nebraska.

On the Democratic side, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, New York and Virginia have put forward proposals to redraw the maps, but significant hurdles remain.

A court has ordered new boundaries to be drawn in Utah, where Republicans represent all four House districts, but it remains to be seen whether the state will approve a map that makes winning any of them up for grabs.

Siddhartha Deb, 52, has lived in the United States since he was 7 years old, but became a citizen on Tuesday. Immediately afterward he registered to vote at San Francisco City Hall and cast his vote for Newsom’s measure.

“I don’t like the way the Republican Party is trying to rig the election by cheating,” Depp said. “This is the only way, fight fire with fire.”

Cooper reported from Phoenix and Nguyen from Sacramento, California. Associated Press writers Amy Taxin in Norco, California, and Terry Chia in San Francisco contributed.

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