Proposition 50 to Change California Politics

California’s Proposition 50 authorizes temporary changes to congressional district maps through 2030 in response to Texas' partisan redistricting legislative constitutional Amendment. (Voters Guide) It will decide if California's Congressional districts should be temporarily redrawn to potentially increase the number of Democratic seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. (ABC) This election will take place on November 4th, 2025. The last day to vote for this election is on October 20, 2025.

Voting “YES” means that California will use new congressional maps drawn by Democratic state officials to elect congressional representatives in 2026, 2028 and 2030.(Boyle Heights Beat)

Voting “NO” means that nothing will change and California will continue using existing congressional maps drawn in 2021 by the state independent redistricting commission for all congressional elections through 2030. (Boyle Heights Beat)

Proposition 50 is about boundaries for congressional districts, which affects who gets elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and which party gets to control the House. Republicans have a slim majority in the House currently, but midterm elections caused the balance of power to shift. Typically, redistricting happens once every 10 years, after the U.S. Census. California and other states were not supposed to redistrict again until after the next census which is in 2030. This year however, the Texas state Legislature approved new maps that give Republicans an advantage in the 2026 midterm elections. Democratic leaders such as Gavin Newsom, criticized the move as an attempt to “rig” next year’s elections. Newsom proceeded to launch the effort behind Proposition 50 to give Democrats a close advantage in California’s congressional elections and successfully cancel out Texas’ move. California’s state Legislature then approved the new maps in August. (Boyle Heights Beat)