Republicans in California filed a lawsuit Wednesday morning challenging the passage of Proposition 50, a ballot measure that would flip five congressional seats in favor of Democrats. The proposition, which passed by a wide margin Tuesday evening, was introduced in response to Texas’s recent partisan redistricting measure. Proposition 50 introduces new congressional district maps, which would be temporarily in place until the 2030 census.
The lawsuit argues the new district maps are unconstitutional because they favor one race over others. The complaint was filed by plaintiffs David Tangipa, a Republican State Assembly member, 18 California voters and the California Republican Party.
The redistricted maps “violate 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,” according to Mike Columbo, a lawyer for the plaintiffs and a partner at Dhillon Law Group.
Columbo argued Democrats created the new maps with the intent to increase the political influence of California’s Latino voting population. Tangipa echoed this argument, alleging that the redrawn districts will benefit Latinos and disadvantage other racial groups.
Though plaintiffs believe the new redistricting maps advantage Latino voters, an analysis from the Public Policy Institute of California, a non-partisan research initiative, revealed the redrawn maps left racial representation practically unchanged with the exception of one more Latino influence district, meaning at least 30 percent of this district’s voting population is Latino.
The new maps “otherwise replicate the status quo,” wrote Eric McGhee, a research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. It is likely the new district maps will “add up to five Democratic representatives and reduce the number of competitive races,” wrote McGhee. “The longer-term impact is less certain,” he added.
Wednesday’s lawsuit is not the first time legal action has been pursued by California Republican lawmakers with the help of Dhillon Law Group. In August 2025, Republican lawmakers and Dhillon Law Group filed an emergency petition in an attempt to stop the special election vote on then-proposed Proposition 50 redistricting maps.
The emergency petition claimed California’s Democrat-controlled legislature violated the state’s Constitution by forcing a special election vote to redraw congressional districts through a partisan lens. This effort proved unsuccessful for Dhillon Law Group and Republican plaintiffs as the state’s Supreme Court rejected the case in under 48 hours, according to Governor Gavin Newsom in a post on X.
“A first-year law student would have been on our side,” said Tony Strickland, the state senator for District 36 and a plaintiff listed in the emergency petition. Strickland expressed feelings of frustration with the Supreme Court of California’s decision to dismiss the petition.
State Senator Strickland believes California Republican’s lawsuit against redistricting will be unsuccessful, similar to August’s emergency petition. “I am not holding my breath that the judicial system will strike down Prop. 50,” said Strickland. Despite his concerns, Strickland expressed hope that the US Supreme Court will eventually rule against state redistricting initiatives and force the repeal of Proposition 50.
California’s Democratic lawmakers have remained relatively unfazed by news of California Republicans’ efforts to thwart Proposition 50. “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,” wrote Newsom’s press office on X. “Good luck, losers,” the post remarked.
It is likely whoever loses the argument will bring the case before the US Supreme Court, according to Mark Meuser, a legal counsel for Dhillon Law Group. He believes a decision will be issued before December 16 in preparation for California’s 2026 midterm congressional elections.