Representative Young Kim is preparing for a difficult re-election fight after California’s new congressional maps placed her in direct competition with fellow Republican Ken Calvert — underscoring how redistricting has shrunk the GOP’s territory in the nation’s most-populous state.
The new districts, approved under Proposition 50 during this week’s election, are expected to reduce California’s Republican representation in Congress from nine seats to just four after next year’s midterm elections. In that scenario, the GOP would hold less than 8% of the state’s congressional seats despite registered Republicans making up a quarter of the state’s voters.