California Democrats appear to have come away with the advantage in a recasting of the state’s congressional districts, with boundaries that could strengthen their hold on the delegation and play into the fight for U.S. House control next year.
Still, the new maps left a string of competitive seats that make California something of an outlier in a nation of deeply divided politics: Even though it’s a Democratic stronghold, the new maps suggest Republicans might pull off surprises.
Democrats are defending a fragile eight-seat House majority in a midterm election, when the party that controls the White House typically loses seats in Congress and President Joe Biden’s approval ratings have been shaky.
Redistricting fights have been playing out across the country, as Democrats and Republicans look for an edge in future elections. The Justice Department recently sued Texas over its new redistricting maps, saying the plans discriminate against Latinos and other minority voters.
While California is losing one seat for the first time in its history because the population in other states is growing faster, Texas, Florida, Colorado and North Carolina are among the states gaining seats.
An analysis by Sacramento research firm Redistricting Partners found that 44 of the new California House districts would have been carried by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in his 2018 election, and 45 of the districts tilted to then-candidate Biden in the 2020 presidential race.
That’s an encouraging sign for Democrats, who hope to gain ground in California in 2022 after surrendering four House seats to Republicans in 2020. Democrats hold 42 of the state’s 53-seat House delegation — the largest delegation by far in Congress.
The revised lines were endorsed Monday by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, which was tasked with drawing new districts to account for shifts in population, a requirement that happens once a decade. Each district must represent 760,000 people.
Republican National Committee spokeswoman Hallie Balch said the panel had created “cakewalk districts” for most Democrats.
“California’s redistricting committee has entirely lost track of the people who reside in the districts they have drawn,” Balch said in a statement. “These lines are a disappointing end to a long-fought battle for representation.”
Rep. Mike Garcia, a Republican who saw his district north of Los Angeles stripped of the Republican-rich community of Simi Valley, said, “The commission has shown they were not acting independently when they drew all the Democratic incumbents into safer seats while making five out of the 11 Republican districts more vulnerable.”
“I know we will win in this new district regardless,” Garcia wrote on Twitter.
First-term Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs announced Tuesday that she will seek re-election in the new 51st District next year, while Rep. Darrell Issa, a Republican, said he’ll seek election in the new 48th District.