California voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed Prop 50, which allows redistricting to redraw political lines in favor of Democrats. The measure, backed by Governor Gavin Newsom and powerful state Democrats, will redraw the state’s congressional districts in an effort to make five Republican-held congressional districts more favorable to Democrats in next year’s elections. The measure was drafted to try to offset the redistricting efforts in Texas that flipped five Democratic House seats to Republicans. Prop 50 allows California Democrats to circumvent the independent commission that controls the redistricting process, allowing Democrats to form more partisan districts. Republican lawmakers said they will still challenge Democrats in the next election. “Even under this new map, Republicans have clear opportunities to flip seats because Californians are fed up with Democrat chaos,” National Republican Congressional Committee chairman Richard Hudson said in a statement. When declaring victory for Prop 50 Governor Newsom said, “We’re proud here in California to be part of this narrative this evening. We’re proud of the work that the people of California did tonight to send a powerful message to a historic president. Donald Trump is an historic president, he is the most historically unpopular president in modern history.”
