Here’s how Californians voted on Prop 50 and what’s next

An overwhelming majority of Californians voted Tuesday to pass Governor Gavin Newsom’s Proposition 50, a measure that is designed to redraw Congressional maps and give Democrats a better chance of winning the 2026 Midterm elections. The new maps will be in place until after the 2030 Midterms.

The race was called in favor of Prop 50 by the Associated Press shortly after polls closed at 8 p.m. The measure needed a majority to pass and with 75% of the votes counted Wednesday morning, 63% of California voters approved of the measure.

“Tonight, after poking the bear, this bear roared," said Newsom in a victory speech Tuesday night, he continued, “with unprecedented turnout in a special election, with a historic result.”

Voter breakdown

The question surrounding how Latinos would vote on Prop 50 has been a big one, considering how powerful the voting bloc is as nearly one-third of the state’s voters. Exit polling from NBC News shows 71% of Latinos voted yes on Prop 50, while 29% said no.

58% of white voters and 72% of Asian voters approved of the measure. Black voters were the most supportive of Prop 50, with 91% voting to pass it.

NBC exit polling also shows 66% of voters who identified as female and 61% of voters who identified as male, voted yes on the ballot measure.

Younger voters, aged 18-29, were the most supportive age group with 80% voting yes. 69% of voters aged 30-44 voted yes, followed by voters aged 45-64, of which 62% voted to approve the redistricting measure. 58% of voters over 65 voted to approve Prop 50.

In L.A. County, 73% of voters approved the ballot measure. Many of the counties who had a majority no vote are located in Central and Northern California.

What’s next

Despite the majority of California voters approving of the measure, the state's Republicans aren’t backing down. On Wednesday morning, the California Republican Party filed a lawsuit asking a federal court to block the newly approved maps. 

The lawsuit was filed with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and claims the redistricting measure violated the 14th and 15th Amendments by racially discriminating against voters in a way that favors Hispanic voters.

The proposed maps will retain 16 Latino-majoirty districts that were created by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, and create two additional Latino-influence districts, according to a report from Cal Poly Pomona and the Caltech Linde Center for Science, Society and Policy.

The suit was filed by the Dhillon Law Group, a firm founded by Assistant U.S. Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon. Dhillon runs the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.

“We haven’t reviewed the lawsuit, but if it’s from the California Republican Party and Harmeet Dhillon’s law firm, it’s going to fail,” said Brandon Richards, a spokesperson for the governor in a prepared statement. “Good luck, losers.”

Barring a hold-up because of the litigation, the state's Congressional districts are set to look very different going forward.

Five Republican congressmen will face increased competition from Democrats as their districts will be redrawn to include more liberal voters and favor Democrats:

• District 1 representative Doug LaMalfa’s district will turn more liberal. The current largest cities in the district are Chico, Redding and Yuba City;

• Kevin Kiley of rural District 3 will see new voters coming in from Santa Rosa, a blue county;

• David Valadao currently represents District 22 in the southern Central Valley. The new district will stretch closer to Fresno;

• Ken Calvert will see his Riverside County District 41 shift completely, putting him in a primary race against Republican Young Kim; and

• Darrell Issa of District 48 will see some of his conservative voters in San Diego County be replaced by liberal voters in the Coachella Valley.

Many districts led by Democrats will grow and leave the current representatives safe, including District 27 (Santa Clarita, Palmdale and Lancaster), District 45 (Orange/LA Counties) and District 47 (Orange County).

The new maps won’t guarantee Democrats will win in each district that is changed, but will give them a better chance.