Prop 50 unlikely to be impacted after judges block Texas from using its new House map, expert says

After a federal court on Tuesday blocked Texas from using a redrawn U. S. House map that touched off a nationwide redistricting battle, some experts say California’s voter-approved Proposition 50 is unlikely to be impacted by the judicial ruling. “Most of the law around redistricting is up to the state, not the federal government, not federal law, and we just changed state law,” Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School, said in an interview with ABC7. “I don’t think there are many grounds for a legal challenge against Prop. 50 to succeed.” Last week, the Justice Department sued to block new congressional district boundaries approved by California voters, joining a court battle that could help determine which party wins control of the U. S. House in 2026. The complaint filed in California federal court targets the new congressional map pushed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in response to a similar Republican-led effort in Texas backed by President Donald Trump. It sets the stage for a high-stakes legal and political fight between the Republican administration and the Democratic governor, who’s seen as a likely 2028 presidential contender. “California’s redistricting scheme is a brazen power grab that tramples on civil rights and mocks the democratic process,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “Governor Newsom’s attempt to entrench one-party rule and silence millions of Californians will not stand.” Newsom spokesperson Brandon Richards said in a statement, “These losers lost at the ballot box and soon they will also lose in court.” The new House map in Texas is a major piece of Trump’s efforts to preserve a slim Republican majority ahead of the 2026 elections. This week’s federal ruling is a blow to Trump’s rush to create a more favorable political landscape for Republicans in next year’s midterms, at least for now. Texas filed an appeal Tuesday evening with the U. S. Supreme Court after Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republicans publicly defended the map, which was engineered to give Republicans five additional House seats. In a 2-1 ruling, a panel of federal judges in El Paso sided with opponents who argued that Texas’ unusual summer redrawing of congressional districts would harm Black and Hispanic residents. The decision was authored by U. S. District Judge Jeffrey V. Brown, a Trump nominee from the president’s first term. “To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 Map. But it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map,” the ruling states. The decision comes amid an widening national battle over redistricting. Missouri and North Carolina followed Texas with new maps adding an additional Republican seat each. To counter them, California voters approved a ballot initiative to give Democrats an additional five seats there. In a post on X, Gov. Gavin Newsom celebrated this week’s Texas ruling: “Donald Trump and Greg Abbott played with fire, got burned and democracy won.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.
https://abc7.com/post/prop-50-impacted-judges-block-texas-using-new-house-map-expert-says/18175003/