A new congressional district map approved by California voters Tuesday in direct response to redistricting in Texas gives Democrats a chance they wouldn’t have had before to take control of the House in 2026, a Northeastern University expert says.
“It’s a very tightly divided Congress,” says Mark Henderson, professor of public policy on Northeastern’s Oakland campus. “In the absence of this measure passing in California, but with Texas adding the seats that they are engineering, it would be entirely impossible for the Democrats to take control of the lower House. With this passing, it’s possible that the Democrats could do it. So it’s gone from impossible to possible.”
Proposition 50 passed with nearly 64% of the vote and could send up to five additional Democratic representatives to Congress. In a major win for Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, the Associated Press called the results the moment polls closed based on the number of mail-in ballots. A coalition of California Republicans filed a lawsuit Wednesday to block the state’s new map.
