Supreme Court allows California to use new voting map boosting Democrats

The US Supreme Court has cleared the way for California to use a new voting map that favours Democrats, paving the way for the party to gain up to five congressional seats this year.

The unsigned order from the court did not give a reason for the decision.

Californians voted to approve changing the state’s voting districts last year, with the aim of cancelling gains made by Republicans through a redrawn map in Texas. Each district sends a lawmaker to the US House.

The Republican party is working to hold on to its thin majority in the House in November’s midterm elections. Historically, the party of the current president loses House seats during this congressional vote.

Reacting to the Supreme Court’s ruling on Wednesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom said: “Donald Trump said he was ‘entitled’ to five more Congressional seats in Texas. He started this redistricting war. He lost, and he’ll lose again in November.”

California Republicans and the Trump administration had made an emergency request for the Supreme Court to block the map as they mounted a legal challenge in a lower court. A lower federal court in California last month rejected a similar request.

Of California’s 52 seats in the US House of Representatives, only eight are taken by Republicans. Forty three are filled by Democrats, and one is currently vacant.

But there are millions of Republicans in the state. As of February 2025, 25% of California’s 18.6 million registered voters identified as Republican.

Attorney General Pam Bondi had accused Newsom, a Democratic presidential contender, of a “brazen” power grab using racially gerrymandered maps.

But in December, the justices cleared the way for Texas to use its new map, when it rejected a lower court’s decision that that map had been racially gerrymandered.

Typically, states redraw their voting maps ones every 10 years after new population data is released as part of the US Census. Texas became the first state to launch a mid-decade change amid pressure from Trump, setting off a race for other states to also alter their maps to help their respective political party.

Texas has 38 districts and 25 are currently held by Republicans. The new map will give them an advantage in five additional seats.

In the US, gerrymandering – the redrawing of electoral boundaries to favour a political party – is only illegal if it is based on race.

California voters approved their new map in a special referendum in November, while members of the Texas legislature redrew the state’s voting districts.

President Donald Trump supported the Texas changes, as part of his national push for Republican-dominated states to “redistrict” and help the party hold onto its congressional majority.

In return, Newsom launched a campaign last August to suspend California’s independently drawn maps in order to “fight fire with fire”.

Jon Fleischman, a longtime California political strategist and former executive director of California’s Republican Party, wrote on social media that this move ensures “shrinking the already very small Republican delegation from California”.

By BBC News