California Redistricting Judges Focus on Prop. 50 Campaign

The partisan nature of the messaging delivered to California voters, who overwhelmingly approved newly drawn congressional maps, was the focus of the majority in a panel of judges poised to decide whether the state can implement the changes ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

US District Judges Josephine L. Staton and Wesley L. Hsu seized on ballot instructions that they said were explicitly political and didn’t mention race during closing arguments at the end of a three-day hearing Wednesday in the US District Court for the Central District of California.

California Republicans seek a preliminary injunction to block the map ...