Governor Newsom Redraws Four Districts to Favor His Party, Watches the Other Party Win Three of Them

SACRAMENTO — Governor Newsom and his legislature redrew the state's congressional map earlier this year, in the middle of the decade, to create four new districts the other party could not reasonably win. On Tuesday the other party won three of them and led in the fourth. The map, asked for comment, pointed to its own lines.

Had the districts existed in 2024, the Governor's party's presidential candidate would have carried all but one of them by double digits. One incumbent the map was specifically drawn to eliminate ran anyway, won, and informed supporters that opponents had "spent $26 million trying to beat me" and "lit that money on fire tonight."

The effort was part of a nationwide push by Newsom's party to reconfigure districts between censuses, a practice traditionally reserved for the start of a decade. Similar redraws in three other states returned similar results, including one district a court had previously found diluted the influence of Black voters, where the incumbent won regardless.

An election-law scholar cautioned against overreading the night, noting the new maps performed better than the old ones would have in a wave this size. The Press notes that this is also true of umbrellas in a hurricane.

The Press's Map desk applies the standard test. When a governor of the other party gerrymanders mid-decade and the gerrymander backfires, it is "a self-inflicted wound" and "a warning to the party." Under Newsom it is "an unexpectedly strong night for the challengers." The districts remain where he drew them. The representatives do not.

At press time the Governor's office said it was "reviewing the map," which The Press confirmed is also what the voters did.