California Voters Pass Prop 50 to Redraw State Congressional Lines

Protestors hold up signs advocating for Proposition 50 at the No Kings Rally on Oct. 18, 2025 in San Jose, Calif. (Nina Glick/The Samta Clara)

California voters passed Proposition 50, which creates a new congressional district map that may add five more Democratic Party seats to the state. This proposition aimed to combat the Texas Republicans’ move to gerrymander five additional seats. In Santa Clara County, Proposition 50 passed with 71.1% of the vote. 

The goal of this redistricting battle is to give either Republicans or Democrats a leg up ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The midterms will be crucial for Democrats hoping to combat some of President Trump’s initiatives and for Republicans hoping to control the House for the second half of Trump’s term. Republicans currently hold a fragile majority—219 seats to Democrats 213—which the midterm effect and Democratic turnout in 2026 could easily overtake.

Midterm elections, especially the first after a president’s inauguration, are typically seen as a pulse check on how the country feels about the administration. Coupled with high current Democrat engagement, Republicans looked to how they can get a leg up ahead of 2026. 

“We almost always see a president’s party lose seats in Congress in midterms. So Democrats walked into this, probably with a pretty good advantage, and then Texas said, ‘No, we’re going to pull five seats away from you,’ right?” Matthew Harrigan, a Santa Clara University professor of political science, said. “So I think there was a lot of pressure on Democrats to say, where can we make up for that?” 

And California answered. Gavin Newsom, California governor and “anti-Trump crusader,” as Harrigan said, ed the charge to push Democrats out to the polls.

Across the country, Democrats had sweeping victories in key races. In Virginia, Democratic candidate Abigail Spanberger beat Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears by around 15 points. In New Jersey, Democratic candidate Mikie Sherrill beat Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli. The race with the most social media and press buzz, however, was the New York Mayoral Election, featuring a 3-way race between Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, Independent-running Andrew Cuomo, and Republican Curtis Sliwa. 

Many think Zohran Mamdani’s win signals a potential new wave of leftism in the Democratic Party, and look to more liberal and progressive party leaders ahead of 2026. 

“But look at his competition, Cuomo, who’s a disgraced guy who resigned as governor with sexual assault allegations, and he’s in New York,” Harrigan said. “The lesson for 2026 for Democrats is that you can win with different kinds of candidates in different parts of the country.”

While Democrats celebrated victories across the country on Election Day, ongoing gerrymandering efforts in Republican-led states signal that next year’s midterms are far from certain—and that the party’s work is far from over.