The Supreme Court on Wednesday denied California Republicans’ emergency request to block the state’s newly redistricted congressional map, clearing the way for it to be used in the upcoming midterm elections as the lawsuit works its way through the courts.
“Donald Trump said he was ‘entitled’ to five more Congressional seats in Texas. He started this redistricting war. He lost, and he’ll lose again in November,” Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote in a post on X shortly following the ruling.
The ruling is the latest update in the months-long redistricting battle that has spanned multiple states and continues to change the field of play for this year’s midterm elections.
California voters approved the new map, which could net Democrats up to five more seats, in last November’s special election. The state’s Republicans, joined by the Department of Justice, swiftly filed their suit days after the election, alleging that the map was unconstitutional because it considered race when drawing the new congressional districts.
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The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, did not provide an explanation and no judge presented a dissent in the unsigned order, which is standard for emergency rulings.
In December, the Supreme Court also ruled that Texas’ redrawn districts were constitutional and could stand in the midterm elections, with Justice Samuel Alito writing that “with an eye on the upcoming 2026 midterm elections, several States have in recent months redrawn their congressional districts in ways that are predicted to favor the State’s dominant political party.”
“The dissent does not dispute — because it is indisputable — that the impetus for the adoption of the Texas map (like the map subsequently adopted in California) was partisan advantage pure and simple,” Alito wrote.
In January, a panel of federal judges in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California upheld the new California map, writing in their decision that California Republicans “failed to show that racial gerrymandering occurred.”
The redistricting battle is far from over — Virginia Democrats are reportedly split over what a new map could look like. They are also currently fighting a Republican lawsuit over the redistricting process.
In Florida, Gov. Ron Desantis has a special session on redistricting set for the end of April. In Maryland, it remains unclear if the state Senate’s president, Bill Ferguson, will hold a vote on redistricting, which, if approved, could eliminate the last Republican House seat in the state.
“Republicans thought they could rig the maps in Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina without pushback—but they were sorely mistaken,” Marina Jenkins, the executive director of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, said in a statement following the ruling. “As Florida Republicans pursue another aggressive gerrymander, stealing as many as five more seats, Democratic leaders must follow California’s lead in order to protect democracy.”
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