1 of 2 | A demonstrator at a March 2019 rally against gerrymandering and fair election maps, outside of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. On Wednesday, California’s GOP revealed they will seek to overturn Tuesday’s passage by voters of Proposition 50 to counter Republican-led gerrymandering efforts years before it typically plays out. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo
Nov. 5 (UPI) — California Republicans said Wednesday a federal lawsuit looms following passage of Proposition 50 and control over redistricting.
The California Republican Party announced its legal bid to overturn Prop 50 following Tuesday’s mandate by voters. According to unofficial results, Proposition 50 received more than 64% of the vote to redraw the state’s congressional map which ultimately would make five districts more Democratic-leaning.
It potentially neutralizes effects of a new map in Texas and other GOP-led efforts in multiple states at the behest of U.S. President Donald Trump to maintain Republican power ahead of the 2026 midterm election. It sparked similar efforts by Democrats in other states, most recently in Virginia, which elected Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, its first female governor on Tuesday.
“The American people sent a clear message to Trump and Republicans: We. Will. Not. Yield,” U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., posted Tuesday on X.
On Wednesday, attorneys with Dhillon Law Group, California’s GOP Chairwoman Corrin Rankin and state Assemblyman David Tangipa said they filed the lawsuit in the hope a federal judge will issue a temporary restraining order and preliminary in junction to prevent Prop 50 maps from taking effect.
“I’m appalled by what has happened,” Tangipa said during a news conference. “This whole process was a sham,” he added.
He said it would diminish “the voices of other groups.”
California’s GOP leaders speculated a weeks-long court battle will unfold on its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, a television legal analyst called California’s Republican lawsuit against Prop 50 “rich,” saying that in her view that “all gerrymandering is anti-Democratic.”
“But [a] GOP lawsuit to block it in California while using it in other states is the height of hypocrisy,” Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. Attorney in Michigan, commented on social media.