Blue Wave News: California Republican Party Announces Lawsuit After Prop 50 Passes, Allowing New Voting Map

A lot of things happened during Tuesday night’s blue wave that saw Democrats winning key state elections across the country. New York City got its first Muslim mayor, to the dismay of seething Islamaphobes everywhere. Women became governors and mayors for the first time in the history of states and cities that were historically white, male-exclusive in their leadership positions. Republicans even lost their supermajority in the deep red and even more deeply racist state of Mississippi.

And in California, voters approved Proposition 50 in a special election, green-lighting a new map of congressional districts — and some California Republicans are so mad about it they have filed a lawsuit.

According to ABC 7,  the California Republican Party on Wednesday announced a federal lawsuit aimed at blocking the state’s new House maps. State Assemblyman David Tangipa, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, made the announcement during a press conference, alongside  Corrin Rankin, chairwoman of the California Republican Party, and attorney Mike Columbo of the Dhillon Law Group. Eighteen California voters are also co-plaintiffs in the suit, which alleges that Prop 50 “unconstitutionally gerrymanders districts in violation of the 14th and 15th Amendments.”

The ballot measure created a new congressional map with the goal of giving Democrats five more congressional seats, which is exactly what Texas Republicans are doing, and at the behest of President Donald Trump, no less.

From ABC 7:

Championed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the ballot initiative intends to offset the effects of President Donald Trump’s efforts in Texas to add five Republican-held seats to Congress as Republicans seek to maintain their control of the U.S. House ahead of the 2026 midterm election.

How the Golden State votes will likely impact which party retains control of Congress in 2026 and how Californians are represented in the nation’s capital.

Tens of millions of dollars were poured into the contest from both sides of the aisle, as Newsom aimed to frame the battle as a fight to save democracy from Trump and Republicans aim to depict it as a power grab from Democrats.

So, California Democrats successfully played an Uno reverse card against Texas Republicans, and now, California Republicans are purporting to protect the right to vote by — *checks notes* — subverting the will of California voters, 64% of whom voted in favor of Prop 50.

Look, Republicans can try to frame this as a Democrat “power grab” all they want, and they will, but only because their dimwitted constituents won’t question whether or not their own gerrymandering also constitutes grabbing for power.

After all, Texas isn’t the only state playing these games. Over the last handful of years, Florida, Louisiana,  Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina have all engaged in congressional redistricting, and, in many cases, they’ve done it with the expressed intention to dilute Black and Latino voting power under the guise  of “race-neutrality.” 

The truth is, Republicans are terrified of what’s to come in the midterm elections next year, and Tuesday night illustrates exactly why they’re afraid.

But that still means Democrats have to keep this momentum going for another year. Don’t get complacent, folks, because, obviously, the MAGA-fied opposition won’t.

SEE ALSO:

Critics Call Texas Governor’s New Congressional Map Gerrymandering

Texas House Approves New Electoral Map Creating 5 Republican House Seats