California Republicans ask Supreme Court to block Newsom-backed congressional map redraw

Lawyers representing California Republicans filed an emergency application with the high court, arguing that “under the guise of partisan line-drawing,” the state had unconstitutionally used race to divide voters into congressional districts.

The new map is estimated to eliminate as many as five Republican-held seats. The redistricting effort was led by Governor Gavin Newsom after Texas adopted new congressional maps that are expected to increase the number of Republican seats in that state by up to five. The Supreme Court allowed the Texas maps to take effect in December.

The California case, Tangipa v. Newsom, has not yet been formally placed on the court’s docket, but the emergency filing is addressed to Justice Elena Kagan, who handles emergency matters from that region. The California Republican Party is urging the court to immediately block a lower court decision that upheld the maps and to reinstate the previous congressional map. The filing asks the justices to rule by February 9, according to The New York Times.

“California cannot create districts by race, and the state should not be allowed to lock in districts that break federal law,” said California Republican Party Chairwoman Corrin Rankin in a statement. “Our emergency application asks the Supreme Court to put the brakes on Prop. 50 now, before the Democrats try to run out the clock and force candidates and voters to live with unconstitutional congressional districts. Californians deserve fair districts and clean elections, not a backroom redraw that picks winners and losers based on race.”

The emergency request comes as the Supreme Court is already considering a broader challenge to the use of race in drawing congressional maps. The justices recently heard arguments in a case involving Louisiana’s voting map, where a group of white voters argued that the state improperly relied on race in its redistricting process.

That case was initially brought as a racial gerrymandering challenge, but the justices announced last year that they would rehear it and consider whether race can be used at all as a factor in drawing voting maps. The move prompted speculation that the court could limit the Voting Rights Act, which allows race-based district drawing in certain circumstances. A decision in the Louisiana case could be issued at any time.