A coalition of CA Republicans filed a federal lawsuit last week seeking to block a newly approved U.S. House map that voters passed as Proposition 50 in Tuesday’s election. The election has been mired in controversy, as most CA counties had mail-in ballot envelopes with precisely located “see-through” holes allowing anyone to see how an enclosed ballot was voted.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of CA, claims the new map illegally uses race and racial gerrymandering to favor Democrats and violates the Constitution’s equal protection and voting rights guarantees.
The suit was filed by the Dhillon Law Group, a California-based firm founded by Harmeet Dhillon, who now serves as assistant attorney general for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Justice.
An attorney for the case, Mike Columbo, whose clients include a state lawmaker and 18 other voters, said: “The map is designed to favor one race of California voters over others. This violates the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection and the 15th Amendment’s protection of voting rights,” and “strips power from the voter-approved Citizens Redistricting Commission.”
The suit asks for a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, and eventual invalidation of the maps, requesting that the 2021 Citizens Commission-drawn maps be restored for the 2026 elections.
The plaintiffs highlight that prior CA maps already had the same number of majority-Latino districts as the new ones, and note that Hispanic candidates have successfully won elections without such racial packing, negating the need for race-driven changes.
The case is assigned to a three-judge panel, as required for redistricting challenges under federal law. It could escalate to the U.S. Supreme Court, especially amid ongoing VRA cases like Louisiana v. Callais (challenging majority-Black districts).
The Prop 50 measure redraws congressional boundaries in CA-01, CA-03, CA-22, CA-41, and CA-48 by shedding conservative-leaning counties and absorbing more Democratic-leaning areas to flip these 5 seats in next year’s 2026 midterm elections. Republicans hold a narrow 219-213 U.S. House majority, meaning a net loss of just six seats would cost them control of the chamber.
If the Democrats gain the House, they will be able to control the passage of key legislation and act as a roadblock to the Trump administration’s priorities.
Last summer, CA Democrats scrapped the nonpartisan Citizens Redistricting Commission’s map and replaced it with one drawn by a political consultant hired by the DCCC. Republicans say the Legislature had no evidence and no legal basis to sort millions of Californians by race.
In total, 16 of CA’s 52 congressional districts (nearly 1/3 of the entire map) were deliberately redrawn to favor one racial group. Yet there was no Voting Rights Act violation to remedy. Under the prior map, racial minorities were already electing 27 members of Congress, and independent analysts confirmed the old map fully complied with federal law.
The suit argues the Prop 50 map violates both the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause and the 15th Amendment’s ban on race-based abridgment of voting rights. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that states may not use race as the predominant factor in drawing districts unless strict scrutiny is met, and California cannot meet it here.
Prop 50 was paid for by Democrat Super PACs, the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), George Soros, and other far-left progressive groups and unions. The new maps were drawn by a partisan political consultant and approved by the CA Democrat-controlled legislature.
Constitutional and Election Law Attorney with Dhillon Law Group and 2022 Candidate for U.S. Senate for CA, Mark Meuser, wrote on X: Dear Gavin Newsom, You have been sued. Your unconstitutional racial gerrymandering is now heading to a federal three-judge panel and maybe to the SCOTUS to determine if your use of race in drawing congressional districts should be enjoined. We are asking the court to require the old maps to be in effect while we litigate your unconstitutional actions.
Candidates must know their districts by December 19 to ensure timely relief and prevent chaos in the 2026 election.
OF NOTE: California elections have been under much scrutiny for many years, with new reports showing 18.4% of CA voters are either nonexistent or ineligible under the law (including illegal immigrants). CA policies allow for easy manipulation of voter rolls and elections. E.g., in the 2021 Newsome gubernatorial recall election, thousands of voters reported going to vote in person, but when they arrived at the polls, they were told they had already voted.
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