LOS ANGELES (CNS) – The U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday rejected an emergency bid by a group of California Republicans to block the state from using the new voter-approved congressional map during the November midterms.
In a one-sentence order without any dissents, the Supreme Court declined the emergency application.
The decision from the high court paves the way for California to use the newly drawn lines for most of its 52 House districts in this year’s congressional elections.
The map was created in response to a mid-decade redistricting by Texas Republicans last year, which aimed to help Republicans maintain their control of the lower chamber in Congress. California officials sought to draw a map that would see Democrats pick up five seats in the House, which would offset the five seats that were crafted in Texas to favor Republicans.
California voters backed Proposition 50 in November, which enacted the new lines for many of the state’s congressional districts through the end of the decade.
But a day after voters approved the map, Assemblyman David Tangipa, R- Fresno, the California Republican Party and a group of Republican voters — later joined by the U.S. Department of Justice — filed suit, arguing that the new voting boundaries were unconstitutional because they improperly used voters’ race as a factor in drawing districts.
The plaintiffs urged judges to block the new district lines at least temporarily so California’s original map would stay in effect for the 2026 midterms. The suit named Gov. Gavin Newsom, state Attorney General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber as defendants.
Newsom applauded the Supreme Court’s decision Wednesday.
“Donald Trump said he was `entitled’ to five more Congressional seats in Texas,” Newsom said in a statement. “He started this redistricting war. He lost, and he’ll lose again in November.”
Bonta said the high court’s refusal to block use of the new maps was “good news not only for Californians, but for our democracy.”
“Let’s remember how we got here,” he said Wednesday. “President Trump told Governor Greg Abbott that Republicans were `entitled’ to five more Congressional seats, and Texas Republicans fell in line. In direct response, and for explicitly partisan reasons, Governor Gavin Newsom and our Legislature advanced Proposition 50, presented it to the voters, and Californians overwhelmingly supported it.
“With this latest win, my office has now successfully defended this critical ballot initiative on behalf of Governor Newsom and Secretary of State Weber on seven occasions — and we stand ready to continue defending it as necessary,” Bonta said.
A three-judge panel in Los Angeles federal court previously ruled against California Republicans in their bid to nullify the new congressional map. In its 2-1 decision, the court upheld the new congressional districts, rejecting plaintiffs’ claims that the maps had been redrawn to favor Latino voters over other voting groups.
Judge Josephine Staton, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, wrote the ruling, with Judge Kenneth Lee, a President Donald Trump appointee, dissenting. Judge Wesley Hsu, appointed by former President Joe Biden, joined Staton in her ruling.
“We find that Challengers have failed to show that racial gerrymandering occurred, and we conclude that there is no basis for issuing a preliminary injunction,” Staton wrote. “Our conclusion probably seems obvious to anyone who followed the news in the summer and fall of 2025.”
Prop. 50 establishes new congressional district maps for the 2026 midterm elections that will also be used for the 2028 and 2030 elections. An analysis by the election news website Ballotpedia said it would shift five Republican-held congressional districts to Democrats.
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