Some Republicans could face substantially bluer districts in 2026 than they did two years before.
Five California Republicans are poised to potentially lose their seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in upcoming elections as the California Legislature moves forward with an effort to redraw the state’s maps.
| Kevin Kiley |
| Doug LaMalfa |
| Ken Calvert |
| Darrell Issa |
| David Valadao |
This week, the California Legislature came back to Sacramento for a special session called by Gov. Gavin Newsom to respond to ongoing efforts by Texas to increase Republicans’ hold of the Texas House delegation by five seats.
The California proposal does the same for Democrats, targeting five Republican seats by pouring new Democratic voters into the districts.
Newsom has proposed—and is encouraging the passage of—a new referendum to temporarily bypass the state’s nonpartisan districting commission and allow the voting public to approve the Democrat-proposed maps. It would go through the California Legislature as the Election Rigging Response Act.
Here are the Republicans who would be affected by the newly-drawn congressional map.
Kevin Kiley
The Third Congressional District would shift from including Death Valley to including parts of Sacramento, which is a Democrat-run city.
The district went for President Donald Trump in the 2024 election by just 3 percentage points.
Rep. Kevin Kiley, who was first elected in 2022, criticized Newsom for trying to effectively oust him from Congress.
“Newsom … gerrymandered my district in the shape of an elephant. The ’trunk’ captures as many Democrat voters as possible,” he wrote in an Aug.16 post on X. “Like all his attempts, this will fail. We’ll keep beating him at the ballot box and the Capitol.”
Kiley has introduced legislation that would prohibit mid-decade redistricting, including efforts by his party in Texas.
Doug LaMalfa
Trump won the First Congressional District by double digits in 2024. Under the newly drawn map, it would have gone to then-Vice President Kamala Harris by double digits.
Rep. Doug LaMalfa has decried the newly drawn map, including his redrawn district.
“If you want to know what’s wrong with these maps – just take a look at them. How on earth does Modoc County on the Nevada and Oregon Border have any common interest with Marin County and the Golden Gate Bridge? Voters took this power from Sacramento for just this reason,” he stated in an Aug. 16 post on X.
LaMalfa was referring to the independent commission California has to redraw the state’s congressional map.
“This is naked politics at its worst,” he added. “Mid-Decade redistricting is wrong, no matter where it’s being done. Defying the voters voice is wrong.”
By Joseph Lord
