The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for California to implement a new congressional map for the upcoming midterm elections, denying an emergency request from state Republicans to block its use. Enacted through the voter-approved Proposition 50, which passed by a two-to-one margin in November, the plan is projected to help Democrats secure five additional seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Although the California GOP and the Trump administration argued the map was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, a lower federal court previously ruled that the evidence of racial motivation was “exceptionally weak” compared to the “overwhelming” evidence of partisan intent.
This ruling follows a parallel decision in December regarding a Texas redistricting plan that similarly favored Republicans, leading Justice Samuel Alito to characterize the motivation for both states’ maps as “partisan advantage pure and simple.” The California map is a central component of a larger national trend of mid-decade redistricting, with ongoing legal and legislative battles over congressional lines currently playing out in states such as Florida, Maryland, New York, Utah, and Virginia. Read more in: ScotusBlog, NPR.org, and the NYTimes.
Find us on:
