FRESNO, Calif. – California voters on Tuesday approved a plan to overhaul the state’s congressional district boundaries, giving Democrats a boost in their bid to win the U.S. House majority next year.
The approval of Proposition 50 could allow Democrats to gain up to five additional seats in the 2026 midterms, when they hope to gain the power to block President Donald Trump’s agenda in Congress.
The measure was pushed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in response to a Republican-led redistricting effort in Texas. The California measure temporarily replaces maps drawn by an independent commission with new districts created by the Democratically controlled Legislature.
The approval of the measure was a major with for Democrats, but it leaves questions about where an arms race for power in Congress ends – and how.
Proposition 50 was ahead with over 60% of the vote by Tuesday night, and despite a showing of opposition, both sides of voters seem to agree on one thing: politics in this country is at a crossroads.
“I think we're in a crisis, honestly,” a Republican voter in Clovis told KVPR before polls closed. “We are at the extremes at both ends,” another one said. “It's topsy-turvy. We're all upside down right now, a Democratic one added.
Some political leaders were even suspicious of the voting process. Election observers from the state and federal governments monitored polling places in Fresno and Kern counties at the request of the state’s Republican party. And before voting was over, President Donald Trump said earlier in the day that his administration was reviewing the process.
Supervisors in most Valley counties also formally opposed the measure. The early result showed Fresno County – a county Trump flipped in the 2024 elections – had favored redistricting. The Valley is a reliably conservative region.
Prop. 50 was a response to Texas lawmakers’ decision to redraw their lines in favor of Republicans. After the Texas effort passed, multiple states followed with their own process.
In the California effort, at least five congressional seats currently held by Republicans are vulnerable in the upcoming 2026 midterms.
One of the congressional districts that could benefit from redistricting is House District 13 currently held by democrat Adam Gray. He won the seat last year by just under 200 votes against a Republican incumbent. In the new map for next year’s midterms, his district, which covers most of Merced County, would be beefed up by voters from the city of Stockton and would make his seat much safer for Democrats.
And among the swing districts that are perhaps most critical for Democrats to flip is House District 22. Republican David Valadao has held onto his seat, which covers most of Kern and Kings counties, almost continuously since 2012 — except for the 2018 midterms, when Democrat TJ Cox was elected for one term.
By the numbers, however, the current version of House District 22 actually has a Democratic advantage. According to state voter registration data, Democrats make up nearly 40% of the district’s registered voters, compared to 28% Republicans and 24% who chose No Party Preference. The district will now move northward to include Democratic votes from Fresno County.
Blake Zante, Executive Director of the Maddy Institute at Fresno State, previously told KVPR that party makeup is what has made this seat such a target for fundraising.
“Democrats have been targeting the seat for well over a decade ever since David Valadao was elected,” Zante said.
But whether Proposition 50 will translate into election victories for Democrats next year is among the lingering questions left immediately after Tuesday’s vote, which brought the issue of gerrymandering into the mainstream.
“I strongly believe that if one state is gerrymandering then another state such as ours should try to balance that out.,” Vanessa Darrell, a Fresno Democrat said.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
