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Gov. Gavin Newsom will ask California voters this November to approve new congressional lines that favor Democrats, part of a national redistricting battle launched by President Donald Trump. The map released Friday by the Legislature adds five more Democratic-leaning seats. Many Californians could see their representative change. Read more about the districts that are the most impacted.
1st Congressional District
This seat in the northeastern corner of California has been comfortably held by Rep. Doug LaMalfa, a Chico Republican, for more than a decade. He won again last November with nearly two-thirds of the vote. But the new map splits his district in half and creates two Democratic seats instead: one cutting from Santa Rosa through Chico to the Nevada border, the other running up the coast from Marin County and across the Oregon border.
3rd Congressional District
Rep. Kevin Kiley, a Rocklin Republican, has represented this sprawling district along the eastern border of California since it was created in 2022. He faces an uphill battle to hold onto the new elephant-shaped seat, which lops off the conservative-leaning Eastern Sierra and pulls in Democratic voters from Sacramento. Kiley, a frequent critic of Newsom, has been particularly outspoken against the redistricting plan, even introducing a bill in Congress that would block states from redrawing their maps mid-cycle.
9th Congressional District
Rep. Josh Harder, a Stockton Democrat, was swept into Congress during the 2018 Democratic wave and he has held onto his Stockton-based seat despite being a perpetual Republican target. But the elections have been getting closer; he won last November by fewer than four percentage points. The new map shores up his Democratic base by adding an arm that juts toward the East Bay.
13th Congressional District
The closest House race in the entire country during the last election took place in this district in the northern Central Valley. Rep. Adam Gray, a Turlock Democrat, defeated the Republican incumbent by only 187 votes. Adding in more Democratic voters from a slice of Stockton will make it much easier for Gray to keep the seat next year.
22nd Congressional District
Winning this seat in the southern Central Valley is an elusive longtime goal for Democrats. It already has a Democratic voter registration advantage, but often leans conservative; President Donald Trump won it last November, and Rep. David Valadao, a Hanford Republican, has held on comfortably in recent elections. The new map adds a section from Fresno County, tweaking the voter registration advantage slightly further Democratic in an attempt to finally take Valadao out.
27th Congressional District
Rep. George Whitesides, a Santa Clarita Democrat, was one of three Democratic challengers who defeated Republican incumbents in California House races last year. He represents northern Los Angeles suburbs that have grown gradually more liberal as people move there to find cheaper housing. His new seat brings in more Democratic voters by swapping a swath in the high desert for a chunk of the San Fernando Valley.
41st Congressional District
This seat in western Riverside County, once safely Republican, already got swingier after the last round of redistricting, when it was extended into the liberal Coachella Valley. But Rep. Ken Calvert, a Corona Republican who has been in Congress for more than three decades, squeaked through several serious challenges, winning last November by fewer than four percentage points. His long tenure may finally be over. The new map would break apart Calvert’s district and redistribute the voters, while adding back a historic Democratic seat in southeast Los Angeles County.
45th Congressional District
It took weeks to determine the outcome of the last election in this heavily Asian American district along the border of Los Angeles and Orange counties. Rep. Derek Tran, a Cypress Democrat, ultimately defeated the Republican incumbent by 653 votes. He should have an easier time defending his new seat, which grabs an additional section of Los Angeles County, around Norwalk.
47th Congressional District
Democrats have managed to narrowly hang onto this coastal Orange County seat for several elections in a row. Rep. Dave Min, a Costa Mesa Democrat, won last November by fewer than three percentage points. The new map tilts the district further in his favor by including part of Long Beach.
48th Congressional District
This change is perhaps the biggest reach for Democrats in the new map. By moving voters from the Coachella Valley into the eastern San Diego County district, it goes from safely Republican to a slight Democratic registration advantage. That could allow them to take out the veteran Rep. Darrell Issa, an Escondido Republican.