Overview
- Over two days of testimony in Los Angeles, a three-judge court heard a bid to block Prop. 50’s new congressional map, which voters passed to potentially shift up to five House seats toward Democrats in 2026.
- The Justice Department joined the California GOP suit alleging the plan unlawfully favored Hispanic voters, accusing the DCCC and map author Paul Mitchell of withholding records and producing documents late that suggest race was prioritized.
- The court declined to compel Mitchell to testify, questioned his broad legislative-privilege claims, and accepted portions of his deposition after plaintiffs said he would not appear.
- Disputes focused on the design of CD-13 around Stockton: plaintiffs’ analyst Sean Trende said the district used a racial "plume," while defense experts Bernard Grofman and Jonathan Rodden testified that partisan aims and traditional criteria best explain the lines.
- The panel has not ruled and faces a Dec. 19 timeline tied to candidate filing, with the Supreme Court’s recent order allowing Texas to use its mid-decade map shaping expectations in the case.