Overview

• Lawmakers introduced ACA 8 with broad Democratic coauthors and plan floor votes this week to place a Nov. 4 special election before voters on new congressional maps.
• Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson and the NRCC, denounced the move as an illegal power grab, with Assemblymember Carl DeMaio seeking legal opinions and filing a separate initiative targeting legislators who back the plan.
• Election-law experts Rick Hasen and Justin Levitt say a legislatively referred constitutional amendment can lawfully change California’s redistricting rules, and Supreme Court precedent allows mid‑decade remaps.
• Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed to fight the proposal to preserve the independent Citizens Redistricting Commission he championed.
• The proposed map is projected by Democratic strategists to net roughly five additional House seats and would shift local lines, such as moving Simi Valley into Rep. Brad Sherman’s district, with analyses highlighting tougher terrain for several GOP incumbents.