Civics & Democracy

How Prop 50 is shaping 2026 and what it means for SoCal voters

Brianna Lee is LAist’s Civics and Democracy engagement producer, focusing on making local government accessible.

Published Nov 24, 2025 10:43 AM

A large "Yes on 50!" sign appears above a freeway with cars driving underneath.

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It's been nearly three weeks since we found out Californians decisively passed Proposition 50 to redraw the state’s congressional district maps. The Associated Press called the vote within minutes of polls closing, but the vote won’t become official until after results are certified in early December — and yes, votes are still being counted with about 12,000 to go statewide.

In the meantime, we’re keeping tabs on potential legal battles, the status of the national redistricting arms race, and how Prop. 50 is already shaping choices for the 2026 midterm elections.

Here's what's been going on so far.

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Texas’ map was blocked by a federal court

What happened: A federal court ruled that Texas cannot use its recently redrawn congressional maps in the 2026 midterm elections, finding it was racially gerrymandered.
Wasn’t this the map that led to Prop. 50 to begin with? Yep. A quick refresher: Over the summer, President Donald Trump encouraged Texas officials to start an unusual mid-decade redistricting process to help Republicans gain five seats in the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterms. After Texas’ state legislature produced those new maps, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that California would respond with a similar move to redistrict in favor of Democrats and neutralize Texas' map — which eventually became Prop. 50.
Does the ruling affect Prop. 50? No. But there's a separate challenge underway in California. More on that below.
What does this mean for the House elections in 2026? If the federal court’s ruling on Texas holds, Democrats will be ahead in the nationwide redistricting battle. However, the Trump administration has already appealed the Texas decision, and it could wind up in the U.S. Supreme Court.

California Republicans and the DOJ filed a lawsuit

What happened: Shortly after Election Day, California Republicans announced they were challenging Prop. 50 in federal court, arguing the new district maps favor Latinos at the expense of other groups in violation of the Constitution. The federal Department of Justice filed last week to join the lawsuit.
Does this change anything? Not at the moment. The lawsuit requests a preliminary injunction — essentially a pause on Prop. 50 going into effect — while the case gets reviewed, but it’s not clear if the court will grant one. Any injunction would have to happen very soon, since candidates are already gearing up for the 2026 elections.

Here’s how O.C. cities voted on Prop. 50

Voters wait to cast their ballots in the California Statewide Special Election at the Huntington Beach Central Library on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025.

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Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag

Los Angeles Times

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What happened: Prop. 50 won in Orange County, but data from the county's registrar’s office gives us a clearer picture of how that vote broke down across cities.
Who voted no? “No” votes led by more than 60% in Villa Park, a mostly residential enclave in the heart of Orange County, along with Newport Beach and Yorba Linda, traditional Trump strongholds.
Supporting Prop. 50: The cities of Santa Ana, Irvine, Anaheim and Tustin were among those with the highest support for the measure. You can see the full breakdown of vote margins across O.C. here.

Prop. 50 moved an entire district out of the Inland Empire

What happened: The previously safe-Republican 41st Congressional District, which covered the Inland Empire and Coachella Valley in Riverside County, is now primarily in blue L.A. County, with some small slices of Orange County.
What cities are in the new 41st District? It includes Downey, Lakewood, Sante Fe Springs and Brea. You can see a map of the district here. The 41st District currently stretches through Riverside County from Corona to Palm Desert. It’s represented by Republican Rep. Ken Calvert.
Geographic changes this big are unusual, right? Yes — even though Prop. 50 shifted most California congressional districts, this change stuck out. As Jodi Balma, a political science professor at Fullerton College, told LAist: "The others, you could kind of understand how the borders changed and some segment of the district remained the same. But this one just wholesale was picked up from the Inland Empire and moved to Los Angeles, and it's a completely new district."
Who could represent the new 41st District? So far, there's only one candidate in the race. That’s Democratic Rep. Linda Sánchez, who currently represents the 38th District. She could have chosen to run in either the newly drawn 38th District (covering Bell, Diamond Bar, Rowland Heights and part of Yorba Linda) or the new 41st District, since both include communities she currently represents. Here’s what she said when she announced the decision:

“After Proposition 50 passed and split my current district, deciding where to run was an emotional but ultimately an easy choice — I chose home. Boundaries may change, but my commitment to fighting for the people I love will never waver.”

Linda Sanchez, a woman in glasses, red shirt and large pearl necklace, speaks at a podium with two men behind her.

The other SoCal congressional candidates running in 2026

As expected, the Prop. 50 map is causing a big game of musical chairs among sitting congressional representatives now deciding which new districts to run in. New candidates are also jumping in to see if voters in freshly redrawn districts will elect them to office. Here’s what Southern California’s choices are looking like for the 2026 elections:

Two sitting Republicans face off to represent O.C. and Riverside: The 40th Congressional District is one of the only districts that’s significantly more Republican under Prop. 50, so it’s prime territory for GOP candidates.
Previously in the 40th District: It covered eastern Orange County, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, including North Tustin, Chino Hills, Yorba Linda, Laguna Hills and Mission Viejo. It’s currently represented by Republican Rep. Young Kim.
The 40th District after Prop. 50: It hangs on to parts of Orange County, including Mission Viejo and Villa Park, but now includes large swathes of Riverside County, including Lake Elsinore, Murrieta and Menifee.
Who’s running in 2026: The 40th’s current representative, Republican Rep. Young Kim, will run for reelection. Republican Rep. Ken Calvert, who currently represents the Riverside County areas being added to the 40th District, says he will run against Kim in 2026, so voters will see a rare race between two incumbents from the same party.

An open seat in southeast L.A. County

A woman with light skin tone and dark hair wearing a black jacket over a red blazer stands behind a podium speaking into a microphone.

Huntington Beach moves to a Democratic stronghold

The city has an all-Republican City Council that’s supported voter ID laws and restrictions on children’s books in public libraries. Under Prop. 50, Huntington Beach will join the 42nd Congressional District, which includes a heavily Democratic swath of L.A. County.

Previously in the 42nd District: It was in L.A. County alone, covering Huntington Park, Downey, Bell, Lakewood and Long Beach. It’s currently represented by Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia.
The 42nd District after Prop. 50: It covers the coast between L.A. and Orange counties, starting at Long Beach and going south to Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach. The new district includes significantly more Republican voters than before, but it still has a Democratic majority.
Who's running in 2026: Incumbent Garcia is running for reelection. If he wins, that would put the progressive Long Beach Democrat — who has directly challenged the Trump administration on immigration enforcement and spending cuts from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — in place to represent some of the most conservative areas of Orange County.

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