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3d ago

California Starts Voting on Prop. 50 to Redraw House Maps and Potentially Add Five Democratic Seats

The special election answers Texas’s mid‑decade redraw with a temporary map from lawmakers that could sway control of the U.S. House.

Governor of California Gavin Newsom speaks during the Clinton Global Initiative on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
A sample ballot is pictured before early voting starts in California's statewide special election, Friday, Oct. 3, 2025, in Los Angeles.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Democrats are pushing Prop 50, also known as the Election Rigging Response Act, in response to a "Republican power grab orchestrated by President Trump and state leaders in Texas, who redrew Congressional district lines to gain five more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives."(MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ/AP)
A woman walking to a polling center in Provo, Utah, on November 6, 2018. A Utah state representative has been accused of trying to "steal" an election after his bid to remove Governor Spencer Cox from office failed.

Overview

  • County officials have begun mailing vote‑by‑mail ballots, drop boxes are open statewide, early in‑person voting begins Oct. 25, and Election Day is Nov. 4.
  • The measure would pause the California Citizens Redistricting Commission and use legislature‑drawn congressional maps for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections.
  • Nonpartisan assessments indicate Democrats could gain up to five seats and that the number of competitive districts would fall to about nine, mostly leaning Democratic.
  • National figures and funding have poured in, with Barack Obama supporting Prop. 50, Arnold Schwarzenegger opposing it, and the Congressional Leadership Fund giving $5 million to opponents.
  • Legal battles are in motion, including President Trump’s vow to bring a Department of Justice lawsuit against the measure and parallel federal court proceedings over Texas’s map.