The possibility of redistricting is coming closer to reality in California with an upcoming special election. This election is set to decide whether or not the state will adopt a map of new Congressional districts. But why is this happening in the first place, and what even is redistricting?
Each state has one or more Congressional districts, and voters can elect one Representative to serve in the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC. The political party with the majority of Representatives controls the House. Districts can be intentionally drawn to favor one party over the other, so that one party ends up with significantly more Representatives. This is called gerrymandering.
States redraw their districts every decade after getting an estimate of the US population from the national census, which recently happened in 2020. So why is California redistricting mid-decade? This is because Texas is redrawing the districts, turning as many as five currently Democratic House seats Republican. The change is bringing in many accusations of gerrymandering. In response, the California Legislature approved a special election for 2025 that would allow voters to put a new map in place, taking back the Democratic seats in the House lost.
Students at CSArts weighed in with their opinions.
“If [California wasn’t redistricting] it would be like bringing a knife to a gunfight. […] We have to fight back before we can fix the problem,” freshman Ripley Ryan said.
“Especially at a time of controversy like this, […] redistricting is absolutely necessary considering the current state of politics going on in Texas,” sophomore Adele Nelson Dahl said.
On November 24th, 2025, the special election will determine whether California will get a new map of redrawn districts. Based on these maps, voters will decide the results of the midterm elections in 2026.
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