The approval of Proposition 50 gives Democrats a shot at winning as many as five additional seats, just enough to blunt Texas Republicans’ move to redraw their own maps to pick up five GOP seats at Trump’s urging.
The recast districts aim to dilute Republican voters' power, in one case by uniting rural, conservative-leaning parts of far northern California with Marin County, a famously liberal coastal stronghold across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.
Tuesday’s results mark a political victory for Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who cast the measure as an essential tool to fight back against Trump and protect American democracy.
The campaign followed an unusual trajectory. A handful of Republican congressmen who will see their districts dramatically reshaped – and their jobs endangered — mostly stayed away from the campaign spotlight. With opponents short on cash, Newsom and his supporters dominated TV screens in the critical closing weeks.
Total spending on broadcast and cable ads topped $100 million, with more than two-thirds of it coming from supporters. Newsom told people to stop donating in the race's final weeks.
The GOP congressmen — Reps. Ken Calvert, Darrell Issa, Kevin Kiley, David Valadao and Doug LaMalfa — will see right-leaning voters reduced and left-leaning voters boosted in their respective districts in a shift that would make it likely a Democratic candidate would prevail in each race.
Issa issued a defiant statement, saying: “I'm not going anywhere. I'll continue to represent the people of California regardless of their party or where they live."
Calvert said Newsom engineered a “power grab” while housing costs, gas prices and taxes continue to strain family budgets. "I am determined to keep fighting for the families I represent," he said in an email.
