The Supreme Court declined on Wednesday to block California‘s use of a new congressional map in the November election, rejecting an emergency petition from the California GOP.
The brief, unsigned order did not elaborate on the high court’s reasoning for rejecting the California Republican Party’s effort to halt the use of the new congressional map, which favors Democrats. The Supreme Court’s ruling marks the second time in recent months that the justices have allowed a new partisan congressional map to be used for the midterm elections, after green-lighting Texas’s new map, which could net Republicans five seats in the House.
The ruling is a significant win for Democrats in the mid-decade redistricting war. Democrats are expected to net as many as five seats in the House with the new voter-approved congressional map in California.
The California GOP argued that the new map included an unlawful racial gerrymander, with the Justice Department filing a brief supporting the arguments from Golden State Republicans. California officials warned the Supreme Court that if it halted the map’s use, it would be picking partisan sides, after it rejected claims of a racial gerrymander in allowing Texas’s new GOP-friendly map to be used.
“That is a natural political objective, just as it was natural for [Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA)] and California Democrats to want to counteract Republicans’ strategy. But what is deeply unnatural—indeed, contrary to fundamental principles of democracy and judicial impartiality—is plaintiffs’ request for this Court to step into the political fray, granting one political party a sizeable advantage by enjoining California’s partisan gerrymander after having allowed Texas’s to take effect,” California’s brief to the high court last week said.
The California GOP asked the Supreme Court to rule on its petition by Feb. 9, when the Golden State’s filing period for candidates begins.
With the California map allowed for use in the 2026 elections, it could net Democrats up to five seats in the House, effectively neutralizing the gains that the GOP is likely to net with the redrawn Texas map.
The win for Democrats in California’s redistricting efforts comes roughly a week after they faced a significant setback in their efforts to gain seats in Virginia via redistricting ahead of the 2026 election.
CALIFORNIA WARNS SUPREME COURT NOT TO STEP INTO ‘POLITICAL FRAY’ BY BLOCKING NEW CONGRESSIONAL MAP
A Virginia court ruled that Democrats in the state legislature failed to follow multiple state laws in their effort to rush a redistricting referendum for voters to decide in April, foreclosing the possibility of redrawing the commonwealth’s congressional map until 2028 at the earliest. Virginia Democrats have appealed the ruling.
The order comes as the Supreme Court is slated to issue a ruling that could decide the fate of race-based redistricting challenges in Louisiana v. Callais. A ruling in the Callais case is expected in the coming months, following oral arguments held in October 2025.