California can use a new voter-approved US House map that is designed to boost Democrats in the 2026 midterms, a federal three-judge panel ruled Wednesday. In a 2-1 ruling, a three-judge panel in Los Angeles denied requests from state Republicans and the US Justice Department to block the map from being used in future elections, the AP reports. The complaint accused California of violating the Constitution by using race as a factor to favor Hispanic voters when drawing the new district lines. The map, aimed at giving Democrats a shot at flipping as many as five House seats next year, was decisively approved by voters through Proposition 50 in November.
The effort was pushed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is eying a 2028 presidential run, to counter a similar effort in Texas backed by President Trump to help Republicans win five House seats. Republicans currently hold nine of California's 52 congressional seats. The ruling is a victory for Democrats in the state-by-state mid-decade redistricting battle that could help determine which party wins control of the US House in 2026. Following the tit-for-tat showdown between the nation's two most populous states, several Republican-led states including Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio have adopted new district lines that could provide a partisan advantage. Republican-run Utah was ordered by a judge to adopt a map that creates a Democratic-leaning district.
Republicans vowed to appeal the decision to the US Supreme Court. California Democrats said that the new map was legal because it was drawn for partisan advantage. The US Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that partisan gerrymandering is a political question and not one for the federal courts to decide. The California panel of judges affirmed the state's characterization, saying there was not strong evidence to support the maps were drawn based on race. The ruling also comes after the Supreme Court ruled in December to allow Texas to use its new map for the 2026 election because it was drawn with partisan goals. Conservative Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a concurring opinion that the California map was also approved for political advantage, signaling it may also stand.