Statewide Spotlight: Newsom Weighs a Counter-map
Governor Gavin Newsom confirmed on July 25, 2025, that he is “exploring multiple options” to redraw California’s congressional districts in response to Texas’s mid-cycle GOP remap. Any plan would have to work around the state’s voter-approved Citizens Redistricting Commission, which the governor acknowledged is “a major obstacle” unless voters first amend the constitution in a special election.
Central-Valley Litigation and Legislation
- Stanislaus County: MALDEF filed suit on April 23, 2025, alleging the county’s 2021 supervisor and school-board maps dilute Latino voting power in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
- Merced County: Assembly Bill 1441 (Soria) cleared its first committee hearing on April 30, 2025. The bill would create an 11-member independent citizens’ commission to draw Merced’s supervisorial districts, starting with the 2030 cycle.
Los Angeles Governance Reforms Move Ahead
- City of Los Angeles: The City Council voted on April 30, 2024, to place a charter amendment on the November 2024 ballot that would replace the current advisory body with an independent redistricting commission empowered to adopt council lines without council approval. Measure DD passed in November 2024, and a new 16-member commission will redraw the city’s boundaries after the 2030 census.
- Los Angeles County: Voters approved Measure G on Nov. 5, 2024, expanding the Board of Supervisors from five to nine seats after the 2030 census and mandating an independent ethics overhaul. Chair Lindsey P. Horvath formally launched a Governance Reform Task Force on Nov. 21, 2024, to oversee implementation, including the future county redistricting process.
Taken together, these developments indicate that California’s redistricting landscape is shifting on two fronts: a potential statewide constitutional clash over mid-decade maps and a series of local measures and lawsuits aimed at redistricting reforms before the 2030 census.
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