Redistricting is, admittedly, a complicated political tradition. But, put simply, it’s a logistical part of the process that determines who represents you in elected office based on where you live.
In other words, redistricting is all about maps and boundaries.
And it’s certainly, especially this year, all about politics.
Gov. Gavin Newsom officially launched the campaign for mid-cycle redistricting in California with a rally at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday, Aug. 14. Newsom said it would be up to voters to decide, in a special election on Nov. 4, whether to implement new congressional districts in the state for 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections.
The idea is a partisan one, an effort to favor Democrats in the state’s congressional elections as a way to counter similar, Republican-led plans elsewhere in the country to boost the GOP.
From how redistricting is defined to what the process typically looks like in California and what this means for you, here are some redistricting questions, asked and answered.
First of all, what even is redistricting?
Redistricting refers to the process that determines the boundaries for electoral districts for Congress, the state legislature and other elected offices, such as the State Board of Equalization districts in California.
More simply speaking, it’s the drawing of maps. Then, voters use those maps to learn, based on where they live, what districts they can vote in for certain elections, including the U.S. House.
Why are we talking about it now?
Generally, this happens every 10 years, after new census data paints a better picture of population and who is living where. States have differing processes for how these boundaries, or maps, are drawn, but in California, it’s up to a group of commissioners who draw the maps based on what is best for voter representation, not partisan politics.
But several states across the country are considering what’s called mid-cycle redistricting this year after President Donald Trump put pressure on Republican-controlled states to change their congressional boundaries to benefit the GOP ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Republicans now control the White House, U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, but midterm elections generally favor the party not in charge; that would suggest the Democratic Party for 2026.
How does redistricting work in California?
Like other states, it used to be up to the California Legislature to determine district boundaries for congressional and legislative seats. But voters changed that in 2008 when they narrowly passed a proposition giving that responsibility to a group of independent commissioners.
The 14-member California Citizens Redistricting Commission is made up of five Republicans, five Democrats and four who are not affiliated with the two major parties.
They hold public hearings and collect public input on maps. They analyze census data and geographic boundaries. And they consider neighborhoods, communities and minority populations when drawing maps, ensuring these types of groups are kept together in districts as much as possible.
What is Gov. Gavin Newsom proposing?
Newsom has called for a special election on Nov. 4, where voters will decide whether to redraw the state’s congressional maps for the next three elections: the 2026 midterms, as well as the 2028 and 2030 elections.
Newsom is billing the effort a “five-alarm fire for democracy.”
“We can’t stand back and watch this democracy disappear district by district all across the country,” the governor said.
Republicans are largely opposed to this plan.
“Californians have made clear that they want an independent redistricting process,” said GOP Rep. Young Kim, who represents communities in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
“Changing that for partisan reasons disenfranchises voters and degrades trust in our political system,” said Kim.
Why does California care about Texas?
California’s redistricting efforts are “triggered” if any Republican state moves forward with partisan, mid-cycle redistricting, Newsom has said, but the focus has largely been on Texas.
Trump is pushing Texas and other red states to redraw maps to favor Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterms. The president recently said his party was “entitled to five more seats” in Texas.
Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has warned that Texas “has the ability to eliminate 10 Democrats in our state” should California “gerrymander.”
Texas, meanwhile, has struggled to approve new congressional districts in recent weeks after Democratic legislators there fled the state to prevent any action on new maps. Many have visited California and met with Newsom and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the standoff.
What is gerrymandering?
Gerrymandering refers to redrawing electoral maps to favor a particular political party or group of people.
While gerrymandering is generally seen as taboo, or used perjoratively, it isn’t illegal. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2019 ruled, in a split decision, that federal judges cannot weigh in on disputes over partisan gerrymandering. The nation’s highest court, in 2024, sided with South Carolina’s Republican legislature in its drawing of a congressional district’s boundaries there, disagreeing with a lower court’s ruling that it was racially gerrymandered and discriminated against Black voters.
The term “gerrymander” is a molding of former Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry’s name with “salamander.” It was used by the Boston Gazette in 1812 in reference to a redistricting bill Gerry signed for state Senate seats that left one district looking a bit like a salamander. (Gerry later became a U.S. vice president under President James Madison.)
I’m not an elected official. Does redistricting affect me?
Yes. Redistricting, any change in these maps, could impact who represents you or who is on your ballot next year.
In this case, California is only considering redrawing congressional maps, not those for state legislative districts. So redistricting could change who represents you in the House of Representatives.
How do I even find my congressional district?
You can find who represents you in Congress — and what district you live in — through the House’s website.
Just input your ZIP code, and you may also need to enter your street address to determine your representative and congressional district.