Fed Judges Ok CA Use of New House Map  01/15 06:22

   

   SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- California can use a new voter-approved U.S. 
House map that is designed to boost Democrats in the 2026 midterms, a federal 
three-judge panel ruled Wednesday.

   In a 2-1 ruling, a three-judge panel in Los Angeles denied requests from 
state Republicans and the U.S. Justice Department to block the map from being 
used in future elections. The complaint accused California of violating the 
Constitution by using race as a factor to favor Hispanic voters when drawing 
the new district lines.

   The map, aimed at giving Democrats a shot at flipping as many as five House 
seats next year, was decisively approved by voters through Proposition 50 in 
November. The effort was pushed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is eying a 
2028 presidential run, to counter a similar effort in Texas backed by President 
Donald Trump to help Republicans win five House seats. Republicans currently 
hold nine of California's 52 congressional seats.

   The ruling is a victory for Democrats in the state-by-state mid-decade 
redistricting battle that could help determine which party wins control of the 
U.S. House in 2026. Following the tit-for-tat showdown between the nation's two 
most populous states, several Republican-led states including Missouri, North 
Carolina and Ohio have adopted new district lines that could provide a partisan 
advantage. Republican-run Utah was ordered by a judge to adopt a map that 
creates a Democratic-leaning district. The Justice Department has only sued 
California.

   "Republicans' weak attempt to silence voters failed," Newsom said in a 
statement.

   Republicans vowed to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

   "The well reasoned dissenting opinion better reflects our interpretation of 
the law and the facts, which we will reassert to the Supreme Court," Corrin 
Rankin, chairwoman of the California Republican Party, said in a statement.

   California Democrats said that the new map was legal because it was drawn 
for partisan advantage. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that partisan 
gerrymandering is a political question and not one for the federal courts to 
decide. The California panel of judges affirmed the state's characterization, 
saying there was not strong evidence to support the maps were drawn based on 
race.

   "After reviewing the evidence, we conclude that it was exactly as one would 
think: it was partisan," the judges wrote.

   In dissent, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Lee, appointed by Trump, said that 
at least one district was drawn using race as a factor "to curry favor with 
Latino groups and voters."

   The ruling also comes after the Supreme Court ruled in December to allow 
Texas to use its new map for the 2026 election because it was drawn with 
partisan goals. Conservative Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a concurring opinion 
that the California map was also approved for political advantage, signaling it 
may also stand.

   New U.S. House maps are drawn across the country after the census every 10 
years. Some states like California rely on an independent commission to draw 
maps while others like Texas let politicians draw them. The effort to create 
new maps in the middle of the decade is highly unusual.

   House Democrats need to gain just a handful of seats next year to take 
control of the chamber, which could thwart Trump's agenda for the remainder of 
his term and open the way for congressional investigations into his 
administration. Republicans hold a narrow margin of control in the House with 
218 seats to Democrats' 213.