California Republicans Ask U.S. Supreme Court to Block New Democratic-Favoring Congressional Map

California Republicans have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene and prevent the state from using a newly adopted congressional map that could give Democrats five additional seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. The California Republican Party and other challengers filed an emergency request on Tuesday seeking to block the map, which was approved by voters last November as a response to Texas’s redistricting move designed to boost Republican prospects ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

The dispute is part of a widening national battle over redistricting triggered last summer after President Donald Trump urged Republican-led states to redraw their maps to protect the party’s narrow House majority. The Supreme Court, which has a 6–3 conservative majority, ruled in December to allow Texas to proceed with its revised map. Republicans currently hold slim majorities in both chambers of Congress, and losing control of either the House or Senate in November 2026 could threaten Trump’s legislative agenda.

A federal court in Los Angeles rejected the challengers’ request to halt California’s map on January 14, ruling that evidence of racial motivation was weak while evidence of partisan motivation was overwhelming. Republicans argue the state illegally used race as a predominant factor in reshaping districts to favor Latino voters, violating constitutional protections and federal voting law. The case comes amid growing controversy over partisan gerrymandering, which the Supreme Court ruled in 2019 cannot be challenged in federal courts.

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