SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KABC) — The day after California voters approved new congressional district boundaries, the California Republican Party announced a federal lawsuit aimed at blocking the state’s new House maps on Wednesday.
State Assemblyman David Tangipa, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, discussed it at a morning press conference where he was joined by 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 newly approved Proposition 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 of the state’s 52 congressional seats. It easily passed and will temporarily change district lines for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections.
About 64% of voters were in support of the redrawing of congressional lines, countering Texas’s plan to gerrymander its map to add five Republicans.
When it comes to election results across Southern California specifically, nearly every single county voted in favor of Prop 50. Only Kern County had more ‘no’ voters. In Los Angeles County, a whopping 73% of voters said “yes” on Prop 50 — a nearly three-to-one margin.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who spearheaded the campaign for Prop 50, was elated with the runaway victory, which was a direct push-back on President Donald Trump.
California voters approved Proposition 50, a ballot measure that would implement a new congressional map drawn to elect more Democrats to the U.S. House.
“One thing he never counted on was the state of California. Instead of agonizing over the state of our nation, we organized. In a 90-day sprint, people from all over the U.S. continued to raise their voices and support for this initiative,” Newsom said. “After poking the bear, this bear roared, with an unprecedented turnout in a special election, with an extraordinary result.”
The Dhillon Law Group is a San Francisco-based firm started by Harmeet Dhillon, who now works for the U.S. Department of Justice. The firm calls the new district map unconstitutional, saying it favors Latino voters.
“The map is designed to favor one race of California voters over others,” Columbo told reporters. “This violates the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law, and the right under the 15th Amendment to not have one’s vote abridged on account of race.”
Newsom’s office said in a post on social media that the state hasn’t reviewed the lawsuit but is confident the challenge will fail.
“We haven’t reviewed the lawsuit, but if it’s from the California Republican Party and Harmeet Dhillon’s law firm, it’s going to fail. Good luck, losers,” the post reads.
It’s unclear whether a three-judge panel convened to hear such cases would grant a temporary restraining order before Dec. 19, the date when candidates can start collecting voters’ signatures to lower the costs of their filing fee. It’s essentially the first step in officially running in the 2026 midterm elections. Columbo said he’s hoping to get a decision in the upcoming weeks.
Republicans have filed multiple lawsuits in California to block the Democrats’ plan with little success so far.
While some look to overturn the voter-approved redistricting, some California Congress members are already looking ahead to next year’s mid-term primaries and elections, knowing they’ll be battling other Republicans for the same spot.
Already, battle lines are being drawn, including for what’ll be the new District 40, which will essentially combine parts of current Districts 40 and 41 in Orange and Riverside counties, represented by Republicans Young Kim and Ken Calvert.
On Wednesday, both announced they’re vying for the same spot.
“No one else comes close to my record of service to the new 40th. I’ve lived here my entire life and already represent the majority of this district in Congress,” Calvert said.
“Our team is battle-tested, ready, and all in. We’re prepared to run a vigorous campaign to earn the trust and support of each voter in the new 40th District,” Kim’s team said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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