When Democrats in California decided to redistrict their state – in a scheme that presumably would give their party a couple more seats in the U.S. House – they use race, which is illegal, according to a new court filing.
“District 13 was plainly drawn with a racial objective in mind,” charged Sean Trende, a senior election analyst with RealClearPolitics. “It looks like an X-Acto knife job to me.”
The case has been brought by Mark Meuser, a lawyer for the state Republicans, with court testimony starting this week.
Trende testified as an early witness that the new border of the 13th, a “swing district that voted for Trump last year, revealed that the mapmaker was more concerned with adding Hispanic voters to the district than Democratic ones.
A report at Courthousenews said, “Comparing demographic maps that showed democratic voters and Hispanic voters, Trende said some of the unusual shapes of the new district map can only be explained by the mapmaker wanting to include heavily Hispanic blocks around the city of Stockton in the district while ignoring heavily democratic blocks.”
Multiple states have worked on redistricting as the 2026 fight for the majority in Congress looms. Several Republican states have redistricted already, and California’s attempt is in response. There voters decided to deviate from their state constitution in order to have Democrats in the state’s political structure re-align congressional district boundaries.
The three-judge panel that will rule on the GOP challenge includes U.S. Circuit Judge Kenneth Kiyul Lee, U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton, and U.S. District Judge Wesley Hsu, all appointed by different presidents.
Republicans say the Democrats used race to determine the boundaries of some districts, a move that if proven would be illegal.
The report said, “Racial gerrymandering, where race is the predominant incentive in creating voting districts, is largely unconstitutional unless there are compelling reasons under the U.S. Voting Rights Act to ensure minority groups are able to elect representatives of their choice.”
Trende confirmed that California’s new plan is more favorable to Democrats.
The changed Texas map, which purportedly benefits Republicans, already has been allowed to be used in a decision by the courts.